The PokeHybrid World
by Anya Maygo
Summary: This is a story where new creatures are on a planet far away: people that are in appearance half human, and half Pokemon. One hybrid, a Pichu, doesn't like what his destiny makes him, so he decides to run away and make a new life, but things don't work out quite like he hopes. Sequel: Changes All Around! Read and comment please, I need continuation ideas!
1. Disgruntlement and Escape

Chapter 1: Disgruntlement and Escape

Kyerrsha looked up with all the irritation a Pichu could have. "Why do I have to learn all these stupid TM attacks from Earth? And don't tell me about my destiny, either!"

His teacher, an Alakazam, sighed. "Kyerrsha…it is _because_ of your destiny that you must learn this. You have been destined to save our world – "

"Yeah, and because of all of this specialized training, my life is gone! I have no friends, my family abandoned me here – "

"Boy!"

"-and every Spark-chick on the planet is begging to be my girlfriend just because of the 'awesome legendary destiny' that I have. I'm not going through with this anymore!" And with that, he shifted to his Pokemon form and took off for the door.

Only to be stopped by his teacher's fine-tuned mind. "You are going to learn Endure before you decide to slow your lessons. Endurance will serve you well in your future."

Kyerrsha sighed. "You said that for Light Screen, Protect, and the Spark attacks, too." And with that, he resigned himself to his studies, schooling his thoughts into a retaining state as instructed.

* * *

Several hours later, Kyerrsha was permitted to leave the premises of the school with the technique Endurance well secured in his mind.

_This is ridiculous,_ he thought. _I have all the attacks up to Sweet Kiss, and they're_ still _not leaving me alone! I'll probably never evolve, because it takes happiness and will to become a Pikachu even on the Hybrid World. I'm certainly not happy here, and I don't want to evolve in a close-tied environment._

That last thought stopped him. _I don't want to evolve _here_…would I want to evolve somewhere else? Like maybe on one of the moons?...No, that'd be the first place they'd look for me. I need to go farther._ Much _farther…_

* * *

He was well acquainted with the systems of the Sun Side. After eighteen hours of work or whatever you wanted to do, you went to sleep for a while. This time, though, he didn't sleep. Instead, he packed up some treasures and slipped out to the hangar bay to look at the space-worthy ships and make his pick.

He found one: the Spark-Shuttle. It was a one-person shuttle keyed to accept any properly-leveled Electric attack as a pass-code. His Thunder was quite sufficient to let him on. Anything less would have set off an alarm.

Upon sitting in the cockpit, he muttered to himself in frustration. "Why couldn't I have learned Growth or something useful?" So he focused and shifted to human form.

Well, the human form wasn't much good as it couldn't use Pokemon attacks very well, but it did make him at least an inch taller than his standard form. And with that alteration done, he took the Spark-Shuttle up and off the planet; out of orbit and into the black unknown.

"All right, time to engage the hyper-drive!"

White light shone around the ship…and around Kyerrsha.

* * *

It was a good thing that he had evolved upon activating the hyper-drive, because it took a whole hour, possibly two, before he saw a large galaxy in front of him.

"Okay, this looks promising. Let's see which planet in here has suitable oxygen." Upon studying the charts – and muttering to himself about blind luck getting the ship up and not learning how to pilot or understand it – he finally guessed that the blue planet fairly close to the sun would be sufficient.

So he entered, shutting off the hyper-drive. Moving past the first five planets, he saw a large field of asteroids.

"Oh, boy: time to practice some dodge-and-weave maneuvers!"

Kyerrsha actually did quite well. He did well right up until he was almost out of the asteroid belt. Then one struck him from behind!

The shuttle careened out of control, and he fought frantically to get the shuttle towards the blue planet with what was left of its power reserves.

He got around the red planet just fine and was headed for the blue one when he realized that he didn't have enough power left. So he shifted back to his standard form, leaned forward, and blasted his own strength through the controls.

It was like turning on the hyper-drive again. The shuttle lurched forward – fast!

Once it entered the atmosphere, he noticed it was starting to get hot. After fumbling a bit, he finally got the shields turned on. That was only marginally better, though.

The Spark-Shuttle burst out of the clouds and it occurred to him: he didn't know how to land!

He shifted to his brand-new Pikachu form, ran into the back, and grabbed his bag of treasures, activating his TM ability Protect.

And hoped it would be enough.


	2. Arrival on Earth

Chapter 2; Arrival on Earth

A boy with black hair walked slowly along a path alongside a girl with long brown hair. A Caterpie spoke up from a tree and the boy jumped.

"Honestly, Jomei, it's just a Caterpie. Are you _always_ going to be spooked by Pokemon? Because I'm going to go out to catch Articuno in a week."

Jomei cringed. He really wished that Akiko wouldn't bring that up. The problem was that he was kind of scared of Pokemon, and he could barely stand Akiko's Charmeleon. At least now, she would be leaving, taking her five Pokemon with her.

But he still felt like he should make a retort to that. "I'm looking forward to that, sis. I'll get the entire house to myself."

She was just about to reply when suddenly Jomei tripped over a Weedle and it dashed off screeching. "Uh-oh…Jomei, I don't have my Pokemon with me."

Jomei got to his feet slowly. "I thought that was a _good_ thing."

Akiko shook her head. "Not where Weedle are concerned." At his panicked expression, she added, "A Weedle on its own isn't a concern. But where there are Weedle, there will surely be Beedrill."

Right after she finished talking, they started hearing humming wings.

Akiko took charge: "RUN!!!"

* * *

Kyerrsha crawled from the wreckage of the shuttle, dragging his pack. It had been a miracle that he survived. The Protect technique had saved him, but just barely. He crawled very far, straight into the middle of a path, before he had to stop from exhaustion.

Then he twitched his ears. He was hearing screams…and a lot of whirring wings. Who was screaming?

He lifted his head. A boy who looked still in his first stage and a girl who was probably second-stage were running towards him, with a whole swarm of Beedrill chasing them. Why were the Beedrill in their Pokemon forms? It was the boy who was screaming. He groaned and rolled onto his back. This was _not_ what he wanted to have happen. He wasn't even at full power right now.

Then the girl tripped over him. OW!!! What species _was_ she? That had _hurt_!

The boy stopped in panic. "Akiko!" he said, and he tried to help her up.

Too slow. Way too slow. The Beedrill would surely overtake them with a Twineedle attack or something before they got running again. He would have to try a Thundershock. How would that work against them?

He struggled up, wincing at the pain. This was _not_ going to be fun. "_Pi…Pi-ka…Pika-CHU_!!!"

The Thundershock hit the Beedrill – and actually made them fly away! He didn't have time to wonder before blacking out.

* * *

Jomei stared. That was the craziest thing he had ever seen. "Akiko? Did you see that?"

She nodded. "Yeah. That little guy just protected us!"

He picked Kyerrsha up hesitantly. "Maybe we should…take him home with us? You know, get him fixed up as a way of saying 'thank you'?"

Akiko smiled as she picked up Kyerrsha's bag. "I think that's a great idea. Maybe I'll make a Pokemon trainer out of you yet. You _are_ the right age."

Jomei smiled sheepishly. He wasn't sure about _that_…but maybe he could take care of a Pikachu. How hard could it be?

About an hour later, the two siblings were home, and Jomei was tending Kyerrsha under Akiko's direction.

"Do you think Mom will be mad that I'm using her rubber gloves?" Jomei asked.

Akiko punched his shoulder. "Nah. You're doing just fine. She'd probably be happy that you're helping a Pokemon in need."

Jomei grinned, and then looked at the glistening metal circle that was on the Pikachu's forehead. "I'm still wondering about this thing, though. Does it mean that he's trained?"

* * *

Then Kyerrsha started waking up. "_Pi…ka…pi_?" He didn't recognize his surroundings at all. It didn't look like any of the buildings on Hyrikan.

"Are you okay, Pikachu?"

He looked up at the boy who had spoken. Those words made no sense to him. Wait…he remembered his teacher saying that their kind could obtain knowledge on what someone was saying by tapping their Psychic attacks without actually using them. He focused on his Light Screen's energy. Now if the boy would just say that again…

"How are you feeling?"

Oh. That was the girl. What was her name? Akiko? Among the hybrids, that was a very funny name.

Well, at least now he could answer it. He bounced up and struck a fighting pose, with a purely silly smile on his face. Then he set his paws to his head and moaned. "_Pi-kuh_." Man, did he land on his head or something?

Well, that got her reaction. "Oh, you poor thing. Here, let's see what I can do about that."

'Poor thing'? Well, he _was_ kind of helpless right now, or he would be until his head recovered.

She wandered off into a different room, mumbling something about an ice pack. Huh?

The boy looked nervously at him. Did that guy think he was going to use a Thunder or something? "So, um…are you trained, Pikachu?"

That one made no sense. Kyerrsha cocked his head - carefully. "_Pi_?"

The boy tried again. "Uh…do you have an owner?"

Oh. _That_ was what the boy meant. When was this boy going to say _his_ name? Kyerrsha shook his head for no, though that only brought on another headache.

Akiko came back with a bag, tossing it from hand to hand, and gave it to the boy. "Here you go, Jomei. Set this on his head before he goes Psyduck on us."

Kyerrsha smiled. He understood the joke, although he wasn't sure Jomei did. The bag _did_ go on his head, though. Man, that thing was _cold_! _So…_this _was an ice pack._

Akiko shook her head. "Well, if he's not trained, then what was he doing with a pack? I still haven't figured out how to open it. Plus, there's that metal spot thing to consider." She looked at him. "Where did you get that thing, Pikachu?"

Okay, that was getting annoying. He had a name, after all. He may not like the name much, but at least it was a name. "_PI-Pikachu_."

Jomei cocked his head. "Okay, he definitely wants to tell us something."

"_PI-Pikachu_."

Akiko sighed. "What's the big deal, Pikachu?"

Finally, exasperated, Kyerrsha yelled, "_PI-PIKACHU_! _PIAKA_!"

Both of them jumped. _That was cool._ He hadn't known that his Pikachu form could even make that sound. Well, it sounded enough like his name to where he wouldn't complain.

Jomei recovered first. "Piyaka?"

He answered, "_Chu_."

"You want to be called Piyaka?"

"_Chu_."

Akiko – the only word for it was _chirped_ – "Well then, Piyaka it is. Welcome to the family, Piyaka."

Kyerrsha – he would still have to get used to the name Piyaka – smiled at his new family.


	3. Friendships Forged

Chapter 3: Friendships Forged

Akiko started packing up her things in her backpack. _Well,_ she thought, _I'll be off to catch at least a glimpse of an Articuno._

Then she heard a knocking at her door. "Um, sis?"

"What is it, Jomei?"

"I'm wondering…since now Piyaka's joined us…can I come with you?"

Akiko stared at her door. "You've never volunteered to go on one of my expeditions before. Okay! I'd be glad for the company. Excuse me, _human_ company."

Jomei laughed and walked away.

Akiko shook her head and called out her Charmeleon. "Come on, Char-boy: let's finish this fast!"

* * *

Jomei went to his room, pulled out his backpack, and started loading a change of clothes into it. Piyaka jumped up onto the bed, its ice pack tied on, and asked, cocking its head, "_Pika pika_?"

"Hey, Piyaka. I'm going to go with Akiko on her journey to try to find an Articuno."

Piyaka acted like he'd said something completely awe-inspiring. "_Pi-kaaa…_"

"Yeah. I figured you'd want to come with us, or I'd never have decided to go. Can you grab my hat?" And he pointed over to his dresser.

Piyaka made it in one jump and picked up Jomei's favorite hat, a yellow one with blue lightning bolts streaking across it. Akiko sometimes teased him about looking like a Manectric in it. It studied the hat carefully, as if uncertain of how to get it back. Finally, it sighed and put the hat on its own head, and made the jump back onto the bed.

Jomei took the hat with a smile and put it on. "Well, I guess I'm ready." He shouldered his backpack and started out the door of his room.

"_Pika pika_!" Piyaka called. He looked back at the urgency in its tone and saw that Piyaka was sitting on his own yellow bag.

"How are we going to bring that, Piya?" he asked.

"_Piyaka_!" it protested, and then shouldered the bag itself.

Jomei laughed; the bag was almost the same size as Piyaka was, only a little larger! "Are you sure you want to try?"

"_Chu_!"

"Okay. Hop on!"

Piyaka leaped up, grabbed his backpack, and pulled itself up to his shoulder. "_Pikachu_!" it yelled, pointing ahead.

_I still wonder about that metal spot on its face_, Jomei thought. _What is it doing there?_

* * *

Kyerrsha looked around as they walked into the living room. There were lots of things in there: shelves full of books, a small table with flowers, and a picture on the wall over the fireplace. But what caught his attention was a globe.

_Oh, wow_, he thought, _I got to_ Earth?

Akiko came in soon after. "Are you two ready to go?" she asked.

"Yeah…" he didn't sound sure, though.

"_Chu_!" he yelled happily.

She laughed. "At least one of you is pepped about this trip!"

"Yeah…you think it's going to be like that all the time?"

Before Kyerrsha could protest, Akiko shook her head. "Jomei, stop saying that. Piyaka's a he."

"He is? How can you tell?"

Akiko reached over and gently touched Kyerrsha's tail. "The end of his tail's flat. If he was a girl, there'd be a notch in the end."

"Oh."

"Are you sure you want to carry your bag, Piyaka?"

"_Chu. Pika pika Pikachu_." _Jomei doesn't want to carry it_.

"Okay, that's fine with me! Just don't go complaining to us if you get tired of it. Let's take that ice pack off. If you're this pepped, you don't need it anymore."

Kyerrsha shook his head around after it was off, letting his ears flap. Man that felt better.

Jomei asked, "So what do you think about the – "

"If we keep talking about Piyaka, we'll never get going! Ask me on the road."

So they walked out the door laughing.

After about ten minutes, Jomei asked, "So what do you think about the spot on his face?"

"Hmmm…I don't know. It's as strange as his bag. I still don't know how to open the bag, by the way."

Kyerrsha smirked. He'd managed to keep _that_ a secret, anyway! But for how long?

* * *

They walked for about two hours in silence. Then their path just ended in a large crater.

Akiko stared. "This wasn't here the last time I went down this path."

"Huh?" Jomei asked, "How can that be?"

"The answer is simple enough: some Pokemon was showing off and crashed either itself or its attack into the ground. It just happened to pick the road."

"_Pika Pikachu_?" Piyaka asked.

Akiko looked at him and smiled. "What do we do now, you mean?" At his nod, she continued, "Well, it'd be easier if Char-boy was a Charizard, but I do have a couple of flyers on my team. We can get across just fine."

"Um…can't your Swellow only carry one at a time?"

"True." Akiko held up a Poke ball and asked, "Do you want to go first, or last?"

Jomei sighed. "First. Let's get this over with."

Akiko released her Swellow and called, "We need a lift over this crater. Can you handle two trips?"

"_Swellow_!" it answered, and landed with its back to the two of them.

Jomei climbed on slowly. "I'm not so sure about this…"

Akiko laughed. "You'll be fine. Trust me!"

Jomei glared at her. "Last time you said that, I ended up catching your Goldeen's water atta-AAAH!" Swellow took off and flew over the crater.

When it came back for Akiko, she stood with her arms outstretched. Swellow caught hold of her arms and started flying her over.

Jomei yelled, "My hat almost blew off!"

Akiko ignored him and looked down into the crater. Below were pieces of metal, of a strange sort. "Swellow, could you land?"

"_Swellow_?" But it did. She looked at the metal shards closely, picked up the smallest piece, and said, "Okay, now we can go."

When she got to Jomei, she held out the metal. "Look at this! It wasn't a Pokemon attack at all."

Jomei stared at the metal. "Then what was it?"

Piyaka stared at the metal, too. The look on his face was a lot less clueless than Jomei's face, though.

"Well," Akiko said, "look at it. Does it look like anything we've seen before?"

Jomei thought for a minute. Then he looked at Piyaka. "That metal spot on his head!"

"Right. This is probably where he came from."

"Does that mean that he got the spot from this…whatever-it-was, when it crashed?"

"No. If it was, then it would look exactly the same kind of metal, and it would be bleeding. It's not bleeding, no shard of metal from a crash could end up exactly round, and it doesn't look like it's the same kind of metal." Akiko threw the shard over her shoulder back into the crater and recalled Swellow. "Who cares? Let's keep going!"

* * *

Jomei glanced over at Piyaka as they kept walking. The little guy had been very quiet ever since they'd found that crater.

"Hey, what's up, Piyaka?"

"_Pika_."

"You've been awfully quiet, you know. Is anything wrong?"

"_Pika_."

_Great. The monosyllabic answer. I drove my mom crazy with those_. "It's about that crater, right?"

"_Pika_!"

_Ooh. That hit a nerve, didn't it?_ "Okay, I'll mind my own business."

Akiko had run ahead. Suddenly, they heard a scream.

"Akiko?"

"_Pi-pika_?"

Jomei took off running. _If anything happened to Akiko, I'll_ never _forgive myself!_

* * *

Kyerrsha bounced on Jomei's shoulder. Why had Akiko, an excellent Pokemon trainer, screamed?

They stopped at a fork in the road. "Which way?"

Kyerrsha jumped down and listened. Then he started running down the right fork, which was little more than a Poke-trail through the trees. "_Pika_!" He could hear Jomei following him, thundering like a Donphan.

They came to a clearing and saw Akiko pinned down by about three Houndoom, with a fourth one standing watch next to a man.

"Only I can capture Articuno!" he was saying.

"_Pika_ _Pika_!" _I'll help her_! Kyerrsha ran over, jumped onto one Houndoom's back, and started yanking on its horns. A different one lunged in with a Bite attack, but he jumped off and it bit its own companion. Then Kyerrsha surprised everyone by using Iron Tail. "_CHU_!" he yelled. _Back_! The Houndoom stepped back, suddenly uneasy of the Pikachu balanced on his forepaws on top of Akiko, swinging his tail like a pendulum.

_Boy, am I glad I learned that_!

"So, the brave little Pikachu is fighting to save the girl," the man sneered. He looked up at Jomei, who had just run over to them. "How about a battle, little man?"

Jomei started shaking. "Um, uh…"

Kyerrsha sighed, jumped onto Jomei's shoulder, and whacked the side of his head. "_Pikachu_!" he said aloud. Then he whispered into Jomei's ear. "My attacks are Thundershock, Charm, Tail Whip, Thunder Wave, Sweet Kiss, Protect, Thunder, Thunderbolt, Endure, Light Screen, and Iron Tail. If you can handle that list, you'll be fine."

He could give Jomei credit, he didn't react more than large eyes, which he had already. He could also give him credit, he stood up again. "Okay, I-I accept your challenge."

The man laughed. "Such confidence! Are you going to use your Pikachu, too?"

"Yeah."

"Houndoom, make sure the girl doesn't go anywhere."

The final Houndoom leaped over and stood next to Akiko, who had just stood up and was backing away.

"I'm not going anywhere, Stan you bully, I'm giving you two room to battle! I know your team!"

_Stan, huh? I'll teach him a lesson he won't quickly forget!_

Akiko yelled once the two humans were on opposite sides of the clearing, "This one-on-one battle will now begin!"

Jomei looked at Kyerrsha on his shoulder. "All right, Piyaka, get in there."

"_Pikachu_!"

Stan hurled a Poke ball. "Tyranitar, go!"

Jomei repeated, terrified, "Tyranitar?"

Tyranitar seemed to know that this was a new trainer, and roared just to terrify him even more.

Kyerrsha looked back. _He just forgot everything I told him, didn't he_?

"Tyranitar, use Rock Slide!"

Kyerrsha started dodging the rocks that Tyranitar set falling. _Come on, Jomei, tell me to attack! Tell me to do_ something!

"Uh…Use, um…Thundershock!"

Kyerrsha sighed, but he leaped up and did. As he'd expected, it had no real effect.

Stan laughed. "You made a big mistake using your Pikachu, kid!"

After a long silence behind him, Kyerrsha heard Jomei say, "Piyaka, use Iron Tail!"

Kyerrsha spring-boarded up off his tail, spun in the air, and brought his Iron Tail down on Tyranitar's head. Then he decided Jomei wouldn't figure out what to do next, and used his Thunder Wave. "_Chu_!" He remembered his sensei telling him that Electric-type attacks don't do a whole ton of good against Rock-types – _unless_ there's physical contact.

Jomei stared. "Um, did you just paralyze him, Piyaka?"

"_Chu_!"

Akiko yelled, "Tyranitar is unable to battle. The victory goes to Jomei!"

Jomei and Kyerrsha both cheered. Kyerrsha also sighed. _It's hard to battle when someone's telling you what to do and they don't know what they're doing. I guess _he_ needs training, too._ Then Kyerrsha looked up. Stan looked mad – mad enough to do who-knows-what with his Houndoom to them! Kyerrsha grabbed his bag from the ground where he dropped it for the battle and yelled, "_Pika_!" _Come on!_

To give the humans credit, they did follow him. Unfortunately, so did the Houndoom.

Kyerrsha turned around and blasted out a Thundershock, remembering the effect on the Beedrill. Sure enough, the one Houndoom that took the worst of it fell unconscious, and the others were stunned enough to step back and just let them go.

Once they got back to the path, Jomei looked at Kyerrsha. "Hey…did you really talk back there?"

"_Pi_?"

Jomei sighed. "Never mind."

Kyerrsha smiled sadly. He hated playing dumb, but he just wasn't ready to show them both that he could speak their language. At least now he knew for sure that he was stronger than the Pokemon here.

"Who cares, anyway? You did great back there, Jomei!"

Jomei smiled at Akiko. "Thanks, sis, but it was Piyaka who was doing all the work. He paralyzed the Tyranitar and convinced those Houndoom that following us was a bad idea, and he's not even breaking a sweat!"

Kyerrsha jumped onto his shoulder again and yelled, pointing straight ahead down the path, "_Pika pika_!" _Let's go! There's still a long road ahead!_

Jomei laughed. "Okay, pal, let's go."

Kyerrsha smiled as the two humans started walking again. _Pal. Another word for that is friend. I guess we _are_ friends of some type or another. Whenever I'm ready to talk, we'll probably become _best_ friends!_


	4. Articuno Sighted

Chapter 4: Articuno Sighted

KYERRSHA

I pushed at one of my pack's straps. The thing was starting to get annoying after about six days of walking and hitchhiking. "_Pikachu pika pika pika Pikachu?_" I asked. _Do you two have any idea how much farther?_

Akiko laughed. "That's the talkiest you've been since we found that crater, Piyaka!"

Jomei sighed. "Yeah, and I _still_ think he said something in English back at the clearing where I battled Stan." He stopped and rubbed his legs, nearly sending Kyerrsha off his shoulder. "Do you have any idea how much farther we have to go?"

Akiko pointed. "See that mountain?"

"_Chu…_"

"Yeah…"

"That's where we're going. You figure it out."

All I could do was stare. How had we gotten so close to the mountain without my noticing? "_Pika pika!_" _That thing's white!_

Jomei laughed. "Never seen any mountain this big before, have you?"

I bopped Jomei on the side of the head with my tail. Truth was, I've seen mountains before; just not this close. Besides, I'm not used to snow; it always melts quickly on the Sun Side.

_Will we really see the Titan of Ice here? Or a version of it, anyway?_

Jomei groaned, "Can we at least rest before we start up?"

Akiko punched Jomei's shoulder playfully. "Sure we can rest, you weakling. I don't want you fainting on the way."

I just laughed.

* * *

JOMEI

I stared at the stars. Akiko was already asleep, but then again, she was used to roughing it like this. We were going to start up the mountain the next day.

"Piyaka? Are you still awake?" I whispered.

"_Chu,_" was the equally quiet answer from next to my head.

"Can't wait for our trek up the mountain, huh?"

"_Pi Pikachu_."

"I'm not entirely sure what Articuno's like. Oh, if only I'd payed attention to Akiko when she tried to tell me about those legends. I wish you'd talk again. I'm sure you'd be able to make a guess about what Articuno would be like."

Piyaka was quiet for a minute. Then a soft whisper came from the dark. "I _do_ remember a legend about Articuno. It searches out…travelers in trouble, and helps them back to safety. Sort of a guardian of foolish travelers, I guess."

I stared into the dark, trying to see him. Then I thought about what he'd just said. "Well, if it saves travelers, then it can't be bad. I guess I do want to see it." I yawned and rolled over. "Good night, Piyaka."

"_Pika, pika_."

_Back to the Pika treatment, are we? Oh well. At least he told me a legend about Articuno._

And that was when I fell asleep.

* * *

AKIKO

The next morning, I woke both of them up. "Rise and shine, boys! Starly are chirping, and it's time to start up the mountain."

Jomei rolled over with a groan. "Do we have to?"

"What's the matter? Stay up late talking to Piyaka?"

Jomei sat up indignantly. "Yes, and he told me a legend about Articuno, so there!"

That got me. "Piyaka spoke English again?"

"Yeah…I guess he was trying to reassure me. Right, pal?"

Piyaka yawned and blinked sleepily at Jomei. "_Pi? Pika pika Pikachu?_"

I laughed. "Come on, sleepyhead, let's go." And with that, we started up the mountain.

* * *

KYERRSHA

We climbed until midday, and then stopped for lunch. I stared upward. The snow was much closer now. Another hour, maybe, and they would be walking through it.

"_Pika pika Pikachu pika._" _I wonder what Articuno's like._

Akiko smiled. "That's the most thoughtful I've heard you sound. Well, let's keep going."

We got pretty far into the snow – looking back, I could hardly see the green, plus it was getting dark – before suddenly something exploded underneath them! Even flipped upside-down, I could tell what it was that had thrown them: a Tyranitar!

_Stan again? Doesn't he give up?_

Sure enough, there he was, looking out from behind an ice-covered rock. "Nice shot, Tyranitar! Now finish off the girl!"

I looked, just as Tyranitar let out a Hyper Beam at the snow near enough to Akiko to start a snow slide, taking her towards the edge of a cliff!

"_Pi-pika_!" I ran after her, barely hearing Stan's "Only I can catch Articuno!"

_Let's see…Jomei's still stunned, so I'm on my own. Uxie, please show me what I should do!_

Practically right after I called out my appeal to the God of Knowledge, I figured out my only option: resuming my true form. It was the only thing strong enough to save her. It would blow my entire secret, but I was going to tell them _anyway_…

Akiko went over the ledge, and I launched myself after her, shifting as I went.

_I just hope Celebi's looking out for me right now._

* * *

AKIKO

I looked down. _This is how I'm going to die?_

Suddenly I felt a boy's hands grab mine, and I got jerked to a stop!

Looking up, I could see a yellow boy about my age, with red spots on his cheeks and large pointed ears like a Pikachu's, and a metal circle on his forehead! He'd grabbed my hands! Glancing past his head, I could see why we'd stopped: the boy had a tail, and he'd wedged it into a crack in the side of the cliff!

The snow poured past us, soaking us completely. I took this time to study my rescuer. He was wearing a strange outfit, almost a uniform, and he had Piyaka's bag on his back.

"Nice work," I called up to him. "How are we going to get back up?"

"I hadn't gotten that far yet, Akiko! Just hang on!"

I just froze right there, and not from the cold. _How does this…Pikachu…know my name?_

The snow stopped sliding, finally, and something flew over.

"There she is!"

_Jomei?_

A large talon closed around Piyaka's pack, and I looked up. _Articuno!_ And Jomei was on its back! How had he pulled _that_ off?

We were lifted up and back to solidly packed snow. The boy let go of my hands and shook himself like a Pikachu when we were set down.

Jomei slid down and looked back. "Thank you, Articuno."

It called out once, and took flight back up to wherever its nest was.

Jomei called me back to reality. "Who's that? And why does he have Piyaka's pack?"

The boy looked up and smiled. "What's the matter, Jomei? Don't you recognize your old friend?"

_Now_ I had a guess as to why he knew my name.

* * *

KYERRSHA

I grinned at the two. Their eyes were getting as large as Akiko's Poke balls.

Jomei managed to speak first. "Piyaka? You're Piyaka?"

"Actually, my name's Kyerrsha; Piyaka was the closest Pikachu language could get to my real name. I'm a hybrid."

"A hybrid?" Akiko asked.

"Yeah: a cross between a human and a Pokemon, at least to all appearances. I guess you could also call me an alien."

Jomei suddenly grinned. "So that crater had your ship?"

"Yep. You catch on quick." I shivered. "Listen, how about we go down again? I'm not used to the cold."

* * *

**Author's Note: **Sorry about changing the style of POV, but I realized that I was more used to doing it this way, and I'm not interested in going back through the other three chapters to change it.


	5. An Unwanted Discovery, part 1

Chapter 5: An Unwanted Discovery, part 1

* * *

KYERRSHA

We got back to the bottom of the mountain, finally. Once we stopped walking, Akiko turned to me and ordered, "Talk. And make sure it makes sense."

"I can't guarantee that," I told them, "but everything I'm going to say is true. Sit down; this could take a while."

I waited until they both sat down and got comfortable. Then I launched into as clear a description of hybrids as possible.

"Hybrids truly are a kind of cross between humans and Pokemon. Exactly how we came to be isn't very clear, but plenty of legends were made about how it could have happened. They involve other hybrids of certain species of Pokemon, so I'm not clear on their truth. We can change our shapes at will, from human to Pokemon, but sooner or later we must return to our true forms." I spread my hands apart. "So – ask me anything."

Akiko was quicker on the draw than Jomei. "How like Pokemon are you?"

"Ah…as you saw before, we are fully capable of using Pokemon attacks. About the only difference on that count between an ordinary Pokemon and a hybrid is that our stats – you know about stats?" Akiko nodded, "Well, a hybrid's stats are ten points higher than those of an ordinary Pokemon. No exceptions. We can also learn new attacks and evolve like our Pokemon counterparts, with some…slight exceptions."

"What kind of exceptions?" Jomei asked.

_Good. I was beginning to think he was going mute._ "Well, um…take Weedle. A straight Weedle only needs to get to level seven in order to evolve to Kakuna. A Weedle-hybrid has to wait until it is seven years old in order to evolve. And as for attacks, well…"

"I know that some attacks can be learned at certain levels," Akiko volunteered.

"Right. Well, um, I can only learn…Agility once I turn thirty-five, or something like that, I didn't pay attention to that."

"Do you still need a special stone to evolve?" Akiko again. _I wonder when they're going to hit on the big question?_

"Yeah, I'd need to get a Thunder Stone if I wanted to evolve into a Raichu-hybrid. But I'm not in any real hurry. After all, I can't learn any new attacks if I evolve now, and it's not like I have my sights on any particular girl." At the question on Jomei's face, I elaborated. "Hybrids can only have kids at their highest stage. If I wanted to have kids, I'd have to evolve."

Jomei asked, "What's the metal circle on your face?"

I touched it. "This is my crest. It's actually a cyber-chip that was implanted when I was hatched. Yes," I forestalled the shocked question on Akiko's face, "I came from an egg, just like a Pokemon. That's another hybrid thing. But anyway, normally you wouldn't be able to see it, because after so long, skin would grow over it. But now that I've evolved, my body will have to start over in covering this thing. There are several purposes to the crest. One, it helps someone else scan my stat progress and figure out what's advancing faster, and what's going slower. Two, which is more important, it keeps me from dying in battle."

"Hybrids can **die** during battle?" Jomei sounded horrified.

"Yes. That's why they get crests implanted from their hatching - some of us actually want to live out our lives. Only disease can kill us, and we're generally a healthy lot. Though I've known a Ninetales that had his crest removed after he'd lived out about five thousand years. He felt like he'd seen everything by then."

"Um…" Jomei hesitated. "Why are you here?"

I sighed. Well, I'd known that question was coming sooner or later. "There was too much pressure. Everyone there thinks I'm going to save Hyrikan – that's the name of our world. Therefore, I've been forced to take classes to get me ready for…whatever they think I'm going to do."

"Ouch. I sympathize."

I nodded. Then I glanced at my bag, just laying there on the ground by Jomei's feet, and grinned. "Want to know what's in my bag?"

Both humans looked thrilled with that, so I picked it up and sat down with them. "Oh, and Akiko? You wouldn't have been able to open my bag – it requires electricity."

"Oh."

I set the latch to my cheek and let a spark hit it, and then pulled it open like a drawstring bag. "Okay, first thing in here is…"

* * *

JOMEI

The first thing that came out of the bag was some kind of blue-and-yellow fruit. "This is called a _syaberry_. They last for at least five months, dried. I like them best."

He had a few of these in there, and pulled them all out. "Uh…" I hesitated.

"Sure, you can try one. I'm not sure how much you'd like it, but you can try it."

I picked one up and took a careful bite. It was kind of sharp-tasting. Not bad, but I think I like apples better.

Next he pulled out a comb, which looked kind of like it was modeled after his tail. "This is the only grooming-style item I could bring with me."

Then Kyerrsha upended the bag and out spilled lots of shining metal circles.

Akiko grabbed one up. "Wow! What are these?"

"They're the hybrid version of Poke-dollars. That one you're holding is called a _kyerrshan_."

I looked up. "_Kyerrshan_?"

"It's worth the most. I know, I know, it sounds like my name. That's because it's what I'm named after. You know, hinting that I'm worth a lot to my planet?" He rolled his eyes after he said that, and tossed the bag to Akiko.

She picked up the bag and suddenly frowned. She fished inside and pulled out a small metal bug that had blinking spots on its back. "Hey, this looks like a Ledyba. What is it?"

Kyerrsha stared. The play of looks on his face was amazing: he went from confused to shocked recognition to...dismayed? "No. No, no, _no, __**no, NO!!!**_" Electricity sparked from his face right on that last 'no' and hit the bug, making Akiko drop it with some kind of squeak.

I considered picking it up, but seeing as it was black and smoking – not to mention it stopped blinking – I left it there. "What's the deal? What _was_ that?"

He'd pulled his ears down in front of his face. "That was a bug. Literally. Someone bugged my bag, I should have known they wouldn't have just let me get away _that_ easily!"

* * *

**A/N:** CLIFFHANGER!!! I couldn't figure out how to end this in one chapter! Sorry!


	6. An Unwanted Discovery, part 2

An Unwanted Discovery, part 2

* * *

JOMEI

"Um…Kyerrsha? Mind explaining that one a bit clearer?"

Kyerrsha sighed and let go of his ears. As they bounced back into their original position – very distracting, that – he said, "Like I said, everyone thinks I'm going to save Hyrikan someday. Therefore, I've been getting a lot more attention, higher-level classes, and stronger security. I'd bet they planned for me to pull some sort of runaway stunt, and set two tracking devices on me."

"Two?" Akiko asked. "But we only found the one."

"The other one, if there was another, would be on my crest. But it wouldn't have lasted past an evolution: added tech like that is impossible, and there's just no point to make something that lasts when it's not likely to be used for the common folk."

I looked at the fried metal bug. "So…now what?"

Right then, I heard something overhead – some humming noise that was getting louder and louder.

Akiko cocked her head. "That sounds like a Magnezone. But one that big…?"

"That's not a Magnezone, not even a Magnezone-hybrid. It's likely…" Kyerrsha looked up.

All at once, a large ship came into view practically right above us! I jumped back and yelled, "Yaah! That thing's huge!"

Kyerrsha yelled back as he jumped out of the way, "That's actually a shuttle. The real ship is probably still in orbit."

_The_ real _ship? You mean that something's bigger than_ that_?_

Akiko hadn't moved; she was busy getting Kyerrsha's stuff back into his bag.

"Akiko, why are you doing that now?"

The ship extended three long legs and settled down, and for about five seconds there was silence.

I took that time to look carefully at the ship. It was sort of shaped like a Charmeleon's claw, with a window up on the top. The door was probably somewhere in the back.

Then another sound, a buzz, came from below the ship, and a circle – no, a cylinder – lowered down from the midst of the landing gear. An opening expanded on the side facing us like soap bubbles coming together in reverse, and a…well, something stepped out.

He looked kind of like Kyerrsha, but he was a different shade of yellow, his ears weren't tipped with black, he had a moustache, and his feet were just wrong: they looked more claw-like. Plus, he didn't have a tail.

Akiko suddenly spoke, in a hushed voice, like she didn't want to be heard. "Alakazam. That's an Alakazam-hybrid!"

* * *

KYERRSHA

I glared at him. "Hello, sensei," I said in Hyrikan's language.

"Kyerrsha. It is time you returned home."

"I don't want to."

Jomei whispered, "Um, Ky? What are you two saying?"

I whispered back, "He wants me to come home, and I don't want to."

"Oh."

Sensei growled. "You must return home, or we won't have any protection against – "

" – Against Zarkhando, I know. But couldn't you find someone else to do it?"

"No. It must be you!"

I stared at the sky in exasperation. Why did it have to be so hard to talk anyone into anything? Was I going to end up leaving before I even got used to that nickname Jomei gave me just now?

"Kyerrsha, I would just come along. The next thing I would be forced to do is battle you, and you know how that would end: I've taught you everything you know."

I gritted my teeth, eyes shut. I knew exactly how that would end. My tail would get whipped, and I'd be on the next flight to Hyrikan.

Leaving behind the only friends I have.

* * *

AKIKO

I watched Kyerrsha's face. I figured I knew what was going on, even without knowing their language. This Alakazam wanted him to come home, he didn't want to, and if something wasn't done soon, the two would end up battling. So as far as I could see, he had two options. Option number one was to just give up and go with the Alakazam. Option number two was to keep fighting to stay, enter a battle, and risk getting defeated and still having to go home.

So I chose option number three: I stood up, with both my bag and Kyerrsha's bag over my shoulders, walked over, and looped my arm through Kyerrsha's. He turned and stared at me, but I didn't move. I just kept looking at Alakazam.

"Akiko, what are you doing?" Jomei asked. He sounded alarmed.

"I won't let Kyerrsha go off alone. You and I are the only friends he's got."

Jomei was quiet for a minute. Then he picked up his own bag, walked over, and looped his arm through Kyerrsha's other arm.

The relieved, though still nervous, grin that Kyerrsha gave both of us told me that I'd chosen the right option.

The Alakazam glared at me. Of course, I was the first one to move, so I would be the target for a glare.

"_What are you doing, human?"_

I stared for a minute. That voice had been in my head! Well, of course it was: he's an Alakazam – a psychic.

_I'm staying with Kyerrsha. He saved my life, and that is a debt that I need to repay, with the help of my brother._

I could tell the exact minute that the Alakazam read my thoughts, for he sighed. Then he turned and started walking back towards the lift thing, stopped, and looked back.

Kyerrsha started following, pulling both of us along. Then he looked at me.

"Thanks, Akiko."

I smiled. "What are friends for? You saved my life, so it's the least I can do. At least now whatever we face, it'll be together."


	7. The Lugia's Pride

The _Lugia's Pride_

_**

* * *

**_

Jomei

I was jittery. I mean, here we all are, climbing onto a space shuttle with aliens!

"Uh, Akiko? Are you sure we'll be all right?"

"Sure we will. Kyerrsha's teacher won't do anything to us: we're his friends."

The Alakazam-hybrid pointed us to some chairs, and he got into one himself. Kyerrsha sighed and sat down in another. His chair had a slit in the back for his tail to go through, I noticed. Could the chairs modify themselves for whatever was in them? _Clever._

Akiko and I each picked a chair, and the Alakazam said something before shutting his eyes. What, was he afraid of flying or something?

Suddenly, harnesses came out of the chairs and fastened themselves! I confess, I nearly panicked, and even Akiko looked a little startled. Then the ship started moving. It lifted off, turned around, and started flying steadily up.

"Ky? Where's the driver?"

"Sensei's flying the shuttle."

I stared. "But he's back here!"

"He's also a Master Psychic. What's your point?"

I shut up, feeling a little silly. _Oh, of_ course _he was Psychic. What else would it be?_

Through the front window, I saw the clouds part and up in orbit was a huge arrowhead-shaped metal…well, spaceship! I confess I was gaping like a Magikarp. I didn't know anything except Wailord got that big!

Kyerrsha grinned at me. "Are you okay?"

"Uh…yeah. Yeah, I guess."

"Get used to it. All of Hyrikan's ships are that size, possibly a little smaller." That hadn't been Kyerrsha. That was… I leaned as far forward as I could to look. That had been the Alakazam.

"I thought you didn't understand English!"

"Not at first. After reading your sister's intent, however, I was able to obtain your language."

"Oh." Now I _really_ felt like an idiot. _Was that how Kyerrsha learned English? Reading intents?_

_**

* * *

**_

Kyerrsha

I couldn't help but feel sorry for Jomei. Sensei was doing his very best to insult the poor human's slow acceptance of anything strange. So I stepped in to explain what had just happened.

"If a hybrid has any attacks that touch on the Psychic element, they can read intents and, apparently, assimilate different languages. But I think only a true Psychic can give languages to someone. Maybe I'll talk some other Psychic kid into doing it to you two."

"And why wouldn't you ask me?"

I gave my sensei an exasperated glance. "Because you obviously don't like these two humans. You wouldn't give them the language of Hyrikan if your life depended on it."

"You presume to say that you know me that well?"

"If I tried to walk out on my studies, you'd freeze me kinetically and make me stay. If I complained about my studies, you'd say it was my duty."

"And if you asked me to grant you a favor after you've done your very best at your studies for sixteen years, I would do it, providing it was reasonable."

I stared. "And giving two humans Hyrikan's language is reasonable?"

The shuttle docked inside the ship.

"It can be. I wouldn't presume to interfere where I was not invited."

The harnesses came undone, and the four of us stood up.

I tested the unfamiliar word in my mouth. Okay, it wasn't unfamiliar, per se, but it was strange to ask Sensei for help. Finally I said, "Help…?"

For once, Sensei smiled. "Why certainly, Kyerrsha. I would be happy to do something so trifling yet important for my top student." Then he led the way to the circle on the floor that I knew lowered down into the exit portal.

I stared after him for a minute. Then I shook my head and looked at my two friends. "There's no predicting Psychics. Not a bit."

I walked onto the circle, with Akiko and Jomei joining me. It lowered to a cylinder around us, with a very final settling feeling, just seconds before the front spread open. Akiko gave me my bag, and we stepped out.

"Young humans," Sensei said, "Welcome to the _Lugia's Pride_."

I gawked. _Lugia's Pride_? They actually pulled this old relic out of storage just to get me?

_**

* * *

**_

Akiko

I stared around the docking bay. It was beautiful, and impressive! There were two other shuttles in here besides the one we came in, and those two actually seemed to be set up for war.

"Were you expecting some sort of trouble?"

"No."

I cocked an eyebrow at him. He hadn't looked at me when he said that.

He sighed. "All right, we didn't know what to expect. I felt it was best to be prepared for the worst."

"Fair enough."

Jomei asked shakily, "So…when are we going to, to get the language?"

Alakazam stayed quiet for a minute. I heard engines starting to whir somewhere inside the ship before he answered. "Now that we are heading home again, we can start now. And as you are eldest," he looked at me, "you shall be first."

I nodded. That was fair.

He gestured with one of his spoons – where had that come from? Oh, his belt – for me to follow him. "Kyerrsha, go place your bags in proper storage and show your friend around."

_Okay, so we're going to do this privately. Should I be worried?_

_If he were any younger, maybe. But he's got to be in his forties or maybe even older than that, definitely too old to think of me as anything other than an intellectual challenge._

We went into an empty room. Well, calling it empty was exaggerating: there were two chairs and a table in the center.

He sat down in one chair and motioned at the other chair.

I was starting to get tired of his waving me around. I didn't move.

"Come, sit. I need you at the same level as myself."

That was what I was waiting for. I sat down.

"Should I do something specific?" I asked.

"No. Just relax."

I closed my eyes and took some deep breaths. I didn't see what he did – naturally – but I knew when he started doing…whatever it was he was doing: I began to feel a dull, throbbing headache coming on.

* * *

**A/N: Don't worry, you'll find out the results in the next chapter.**


	8. New Developments

New Developments

_**

* * *

**_

Akiko

I don't know how long I sat there with my headache, but finally it died down, and I opened my eyes. "Ow."

"Do you understand me?"

I looked up at the Alakazam hybrid. "Yeah, I understand you."

He smiled. "Then it worked."

I stared for a minute. "That was Hyrikan's language?"

"Yes, and you are speaking it right now. Which language you use all depends on what you hear."

That took a minute to process. But he was right: I wasn't speaking English right then. "Okay, then let's get something clear: you're not my sensei, and I can't keep calling you Alakazam. What's your name?"

He glanced back and forth, like he was going to disclose a big secret, then he leaned forward. "My name is Melchior."

I rolled my eyes.

"See? I _knew_ you wouldn't believe me!"

I nearly protested. But then I saw a spark in his eyes. _Oh. So he's teasing me. Great. Kyerrsha, you didn't mention that your teacher had a sense of humor!_

"Let's go collect your brother and do the same to him."

"Do you know where they are?"

"Hmm. They could have found the mess hall by now. Frankly, they could be anywhere. Let's go search them out."

I rolled my eyes again as he led me out of the room. I bet myself that he knew exactly where the two of them were, and he just wanted an excuse to show me around the ship.

Not that the ship wasn't impressive, what with its shiny silver-walled corridors and perfectly smooth Death-Star floors. I laid another bet with myself that Kyerrsha and Jomei were having sliding contests between decks and rooms. After all, who would correct me if I was wrong?

"I think it'd be best to check somewhere on Deck Five," Melchior said, walking to a doorway in the wall.

I rolled my eyes and followed.

_**

* * *

**_

Jomei

"Ha! I win again!"

Kyerrsha had just hit the far wall of the corridor.

"Aw, man! How can you be such a good slider?"

"It's something that needs to come naturally to smaller hybrids, so that they can get under their opponents."

"Isn't getting under your opponent a bad thing?"

"If they were using Body Slam, then yes. But otherwise, it's not that dangerous."

"Oh." I sat up, thinking about that. "And sliding would be useful in dodging attacks, too, wouldn't it?"

He sat up, too. "That's right! You know, for someone who's scared of Pokemon, you catch on to their battle methods pretty quickly."

I hung my head. I was blushing, I just knew it. "Oh. You, uh, noticed that, did you?"

He cocked his ears at me. "It's kind of hard to miss, considering when Stan released his Tyranitar you promptly started shaking like a Gloom shedding Stun Spore. What set this fear on you, anyway?"

"Uh…" I had to think about that. What _had_ set off a Poke-phobia in me, anyway? "I think it started when I was five and I ran into somebody's Granbull. Or did it run into me?"

Kyerrsha winced. "Oh, those guys. They even look tough as kids!" He threw an arm around my shoulders, both of us still on the floor. "Now, you probably know this now, but Granbull aren't anything to be scared of really. Their tough faces are put-ons. They can be as sweet as any other Pokemon. They just don't look it."

"I know. I just…can't shake this. I don't know what I'll do if Akiko decides to throw off her Pokemon on me before I get over this."

"Don't worry. You'll be fine."

Suddenly, a round opening formed near us! I jumped, but not very far, remembering how Kyerrsha had gotten us to this floor in the first place. The Alakazam and Akiko stepped out.

"All right, little human," the Alakazam said, "it's your turn."

"O-okay," I answered, scrambling up to my feet with Kyerrsha.

"You'll get a headache in this, but that's all."

And with those not-so-reassuring words from Akiko, I followed the Alakazam.

_**

* * *

**_

Kyerrsha

I glanced at Akiko. I swear, a whole minute passed before either one of us said anything. And when we did, it was Akiko first.

"All right, awkward! Okay…"

That set us off laughing, and I think I was blushing under my fur. _At least she can't tell if I'm blushing, because my fur's just the tiniest bit too thick!_

"So," she gasped, "I guess I was right about what you two were doing!"

"Sliding contests. Yeah, if that's what you guessed."

Akiko laughed and nodded. Then she glanced around. "Hey, is there a place where we can sit down? I didn't want to show Jomei this, but those lift tubes come close to giving me some kind of motion sickness."

I glanced around, picked a random door, and slipped through, pulling her after. Yes, there was a bench by a window in this room. As we walked over to that window seat, I teased, "And you fly hanging from your Swellow's talons!"

"Getting carried over a hole and shooting straight up with nothing beneath you are two entirely different things."

"Okay, I get it, I get it!"

We sat down, and we were silent for another minute.

"I, uh…" Akiko said hesitantly, "never did thank you for saving me back on the mountain."

"No problem. It's my destiny to save somebody, even if it's not a whole planet."

She winced. I guess she hadn't wanted to remind me of my destiny.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm sorry. I get a little snappish whenever someone brings up saving something, that's all. A friend-losing result of my training, I'm afraid."

"I'm still here."

I stared at her. She really meant that. "Oh. Yeah, you're definitely still here."

She smiled. She didn't look half bad with this light around her. I grinned back, feeling like a complete fool.

_What am I doing? Kyerrsha, you don't seriously mean to say you've fallen in love with a human, do you?_

_Um, yeah. Oh, Uxie, Mesprit, what do I do_ now?

* * *

**A/N: Am I the only one feeling sorry for Kyerrsha? He's fallen in love with a human, and he doesn't even know if he can "keep" her! What will happen next? Keep reading!**


	9. The Moon Base

The Moon Base

_**

* * *

**_

Kyerrsha

After about a minute of silence, I decided to tell Akiko a little more about hybrids. "You know, certain elements are capable of bending their own element in a way that isn't an attack."

"I'm not sure I understand."

"Well, um…let's use, say, a Charmeleon-hybrid." She brightened up, so that had to be a perfect choice for her to visualize. "Well, a Charmeleon can bend fire, or move it around however he or she wants, without using Flamethrower or Ember. At least, um…"

"No, I can see that. Can all of them do that?"

"No. At least, not and have it look like a work of art."

"I get it. All hybrids in an element can bend that element, but not all of them are coordinator-contest material?"

"That's right. You do coordinator contests?"

"Sometimes. They're not as easy as they seem."

I smiled. "I know exactly what you mean. Hey," I asked, trying to sound like I'd just thought of it – I'd actually been planning to do this, "would you like to see _me_ do some bending?"

She looked interested, at least. "You can do something that's coordinator-contest worthy?"

Instead of answering, I sparked my cheeks and caught the sparks with my fingers, making them spiral into little circles above my hands.

"Wow!" she exclaimed, "that's amazing!"

I grinned back and started going a little more extreme with the electricity I had, making it circle around her and static-attracting her hair. Bonus! I got her to giggle with that! Then I pulled all the electricity back together into a glistening ball, made it fly up closer to the ceiling, and set it exploding in the shape of a star. That had actually been a near thing: I'd almost made it a heart.

I would have done more than just made it explode, which had released the electricity into the air, but I'd heard footsteps approaching. Sure enough, just a few seconds later, Sensei and Jomei came in. Jomei was complaining – in the language of Hyrikan.

"You could have told me it would hurt that much! I think I blacked out!"

"And whose fault is _that_, human?" Sensei retorted. Would those two _ever_ get along?

_**

* * *

**_

Akiko

I rolled my eyes at the two. Did Jomei and Melchior have to come in _arguing_ right then? The show was just starting to get good!

"Oh, will you two just shut up?" I finally snapped. "You understand each other perfectly now, no matter what language you're speaking, but that's no reason to insult each other!"

Melchior actually looked taken aback. "He was arguing. I was merely pointing out the facts."

Once again, I showed my disbelief with my eyes. He just smiled at me.

Suddenly, a jewel on the wall started talking! "Captain?"

While Jomei and I both jumped, Melchior walked over to the jewel and touched it. "Yes, Helmsman?"

"We're approaching home now."

"Good. Take us in to the moon dock and follow procedures."

"Aye, sir."

Melchior touched the jewel again and looked at us. "Well, we had best be preparing ourselves for the transfer into the proper landing portal."

_Proper landing portal?_

I looked at Kyerrsha. He figured out what my question was and explained, "The Lugia's Pride doesn't have landing gear. It docks in this special base up on one of Hyrikan's moons and sends people down via what we call tower transport. Interestingly enough, tower transport is also the way that some of us hybrids evolve."

"You mean like trading?"

"Is that how you humans get your Pokemon to evolve? By trading them back and forth between each other? That must be very disorienting for them."

"Well, there's a special machine designed for that…" I explained, but truth to tell, I hadn't thought about it like that. "Though I suppose you're right, it probably is a little disorienting to be raised by a human your whole life to suddenly be shuttled over to some other human."

Kyerrsha smiled at me. Now what was with that look on his face? I must have said something right. Still, I wish he'd actually answered the question.

Then I heard some clanging somewhere overhead.

"That would be our helmsman getting the docking procedure not-quite-accurate," Melchior said in disdain, "so we had best be going to the station."

Suddenly, I remembered what Kyerrsha said. "'One of Hyrikan's moons'?"

"Hyrikan has five of them, Akiko."

Well. _That_ would keep me occupied for a while.

_**

* * *

**_

Jomei

We got our bags back, and the four of us headed out towards the station. Once we got off the ship – the station and the ship weren't that different, they both had shiny walls and Death-Star floors – I looked over at Kyerrsha, just in time to see him glance at Akiko. All I could do was smirk. Did Ky have a crush? I wonder if Akiko knew, or even cared. She'd never had any particular interest in boys as far as I knew. From what I could see, she only cared about Pokemon. So maybe Kyerrsha had a chance. Somehow, though, I doubted it.

Then he looked away quickly when Akiko happened to look in his direction, and I nearly laughed. If his fur wasn't so thick, he'd probably be blushing for the entire world to see!

"Great view, huh, Kyerrsha?" I asked.

"Yeah."

I looked over at a window, with an incredible view of the stars and the ship we just came out of. "I meant the starscape, Ky."

"Huh? Um…what?"

I laughed outright. "You are one distracted Pikachu! Come on, pay attention to what's going on!"

Kyerrsha looked very sheepish, and a little sad. "Sorry, Jo. I probably should pay attention now that I'm back home."

Ouch. I'd just reminded him that he was back in range of his destiny. "I should be the sorry one, Kyerrsha. I didn't mean to remind you of that."

"It's okay. Akiko did the same thing. That just happens to be my sensitive nerve."

I thought about that. "Well…all of us have sensitive points. Mine was Pokemon for the longest time."

Kyerrsha laughed. "That's true!" Suddenly, he looked a little eager, and he'd cocked one ear down towards me. "Say…what's Akiko's sensitive nerve?"

I smirked at him. "Are you asking so that you don't hit it by accident?"

He ducked his head like a Squirtle doing Withdraw, and nodded.

"Um…I think it's hinting that she isn't brave. I mean, Stan did it by accident when he told his Houndoom to make sure she didn't run off, remember?"

"I remember that." Then he looked up. "Well, _you'd_ better pay attention, because we're coming up on the transport door, and that has instructions."

I stared at the open, shimmering doorway. What would happen to me on the planet? _Let's find out._


	10. Hyrikan

Hyrikan

_**

* * *

**_

Jomei

I stared at the doorway doubtfully. "This will transport us down to the planet's surface?"

"Yes," Alakazam answered. "You need to say out loud, or think, the place you want to step out. Like this." He stepped in and said, enunciating each word carefully, "Chrysanthemum City, first floor." And with that, he just vanished!

I stepped back a couple paces. "Uh…are you sure about this?"

"Oh, don't be such a baby, Jomei," Akiko teased, right before she stepped in. "Chrysanthemum City, first floor, please." She was always that polite, even to something obviously mechanical.

She disappeared, and I looked at Kyerrsha. "Are you going next, or should I?"

"You'd better be next. You're the nervous one."

_True._ "O-okay, then." I stepped in and looked around at the glowing blue walls. "Chry-san-the-mum City, first floor."

It felt like electricity was racing through me, but it didn't actually hurt. I might have blacked out for a second there, but when I opened my eyes, the light from the doorway was different: it was more…natural.

I carefully stepped out. Akiko and Alakazam were just standing there, looking at me.

"So you didn't faint after all!" Akiko said, sounding smug.

"Of course not!" I protested.

"Argue once you're away from the portal, Jomei," Alakazam interrupted, "because Kyerrsha needs to come through as well."

I jumped away from the doorway, right before Kyerrsha came through himself.

He shook his head around, making his ears smack himself in the face. "I've only been away for a few days, and I've already nearly forgotten what that felt like!" He looked at us and asked, "How was it?"

Akiko actually seemed perky. "It was amazing! I could get used to traveling like that!"

"I couldn't." I was sorry to crash Akiko's party, but I did feel like this. "That just felt too weird."

Kyerrsha looked sympathetic. "Some hybrids can't stand tower travel, either. It all depends on what you're used to and, ah, how adaptable you are."

I shrugged. So I couldn't adapt very well: I knew _that_ a long time ago!

_**

* * *

**_

Akiko

I laughed. I couldn't help it: Jomei just took the hit with barely any reaction! That was just ridiculous!

Jomei scowled at me. Then he looked at Kyerrsha and asked, "So where is Siyatra, anyway?"

"It's the…the Hyrikan equivalent of the North Pole. Or…maybe the South Pole, I'm not sure. Anyway, it's definitely the nerve center of the Sun Side."

That got my attention. "Sun Side?"

"Hyrikan's divided into two halves:" Melchior explained, "the Sun Side and the Dark Side. The Dark Side isn't actually evil, but all the hybrids that are the elements of Dark, Poison, or Ice live there, not to mention all those that need absolute darkness in order to evolve."

I thought about that last one. "You mean like Chimecho?"

"Exactly!" He seemed ridiculously happy with the fact that I'd caught on so fast. I just rolled my eyes.

Kyerrsha grinned at me for a minute, looking like a happy little boy in that moment. "Want to see the Sun Side?"

_Ooh! Do that again!_ "Sure! Lead the way!"

He turned, straightened his shoulders, and started towards the doorway leading out – for some reason, there was no actual door. His ears weren't quite up at their usual angle, though, I noticed as I walked up on his right.

_He's back on Hyrikan. It's where he belongs, but this is also where his destiny is weighing down on him like a well-fed Snorlax. I hope whatever the problem is, it's resolved soon, so that he can get back to something resembling a regular life._

_With you?_

_Stop it,_ I told myself, _you don't even know if humans and hybrids are compatible! Plus, how could he possibly like me? I'm just a plain, weak, ordinary human!_

_Though he was defending me on Earth…_

Then we stepped outside, and I was shocked at the whole enormity of our surroundings.

We were in a forest, one with some seriously tall trees surrounding this clearing. There were buildings in each tree, on different levels, and suddenly I laid a bet with myself that we'd just stepped out of a tree ourselves!

A sudden cheer brought my attention back down. There was a welcoming committee composed entirely of hybrids representing every other element, and every other species from those elements!

_**

* * *

**_

Kyerrsha

I sighed. Somehow, I knew there would be a welcoming committee. Why wouldn't there be? As soon as news spread that I was gone, the population would panic.

Of course, I'd have to clear away one thing that they might assume: that I was kidnapped by my friends. "I have returned," I said aloud in my best public-speaking voice – which had become a stronger version of my Pichu speaking voice, I noticed. "And I have brought new friends with me from Earth who wished to see our wonderful planet." Okay, that last one was kind of egocentric, but I hoped Jomei would restrain himself from making a snide comment.

He did, sort of: he punched my tail broadside, making it sway to the right. I swung it back, smacking his hand. I hoped he'd take that as a warning. Jomei seemed to, or at least, he didn't reply to that.

"This is Akiko," I gestured at her, "and her brother Jomei. Please treat them with the utmost courtesy during their stay, as they are unfamiliar with our ways."

I got another cheer from that, though I noticed a couple of the Flame-hybrids looking at Akiko with something in their eyes…lust?

_They'd better not get any ideas about her, or they'll get what for!_

_Wait… Kyerrsha, _you'd_ better knock it off! You're not likely to get her _either_, you know!_

I looked around at the crowd. Suddenly, I realized that I could see someone who looked an awful lot like the one friend I'd had during school, right up front and bouncing around excitedly. "Evon!"

The kid's ears twitched up, and he ran over. "Kyer! You're back! You're back! I knew – "

I held up a hand. I figured I knew what he was going to say, and I didn't want it said in front of this crowd. "Save it for a little later, Evon. Can we go somewhere away from this mob?"

"Sure! Just shift and follow me!" He dropped all at once to his little Eevee form and started running off.

"Dude, I meant to take my new friends with me!" I called.

He skidded to a stop and turned around. At least he had the good grace to look embarrassed. "Sorry. Uh…" He shifted back, and waved his hands around at the crowds. " 'Scuse us! Kyerrsha wants to talk to me in private!"

They parted like the Great Ocean and Evon grinned over his shoulder at me. "Your name's like words to a magic spell, dude! Come on!" And he walked through the pathway, twitching his tail.

I sighed. That little furball was almost more trouble than he was worth, but at least he was a friend. "Come on, you two," I said over my own shoulder, "Let's go."

* * *

**A/N: There is a Hyrikanian mythology reference in the second-to-last paragraph, that "parting the Great Ocean" line. If someone asks, I'll make a fanfiction that's purely a collection for Hyrikanian myths. (Not, of course, until after this one is completed; I have enough on my plate already!)**


	11. The Coming Danger, part 1

The Coming Danger, part 1

* * *

_**Kyerrsha**_

I followed after Evon, with Akiko and Jomei following me.

"Are you sure we can trust this kid?" Jomei asked.

"He was my only friend for the past five years of my life. Yeah, we can trust him."

Both of them were silent after that. I could tell by listening to their breathing why they were being quiet: Jomei still didn't trust Evon, but he wasn't going to say anything else. Akiko was thinking. Finally, she said, "Just clarifying: why not longer than that?"

I smiled. "Because he wasn't old enough to go to school yet further back than five years." I heard her stop. I looked over my shoulder and asked, "You okay back there?"

Her eyes had gotten very big. "We're trusting a _nine-year-old?_"

"He's as old as Jomei," I corrected, "and yes. There just aren't any kids my age who don't either hate me or overly adore me. By now, everybody my age at my school mostly either ignores me or hates me. But I always dread the day transfer students come. Fan girls!" And I shuddered. Not for theatrics, either.

Jomei thought I was being dramatic, though. "Too tough for you, huh?" he laughed.

I swear I nearly zapped him right then. At least I managed to answer with something resembling calm. "Jomei…remember that Jonas episode we saw at the Pokemon Center where that teen band was getting chased around by that crowd of fan girls and they would actually try to tear the clothes off those boys?"

"Yeah," he laughed, "that was just crazy! Wait…" and I could imagine the stare he gave at my tail.

"If you thought _those_ girls were bad," I continued, "then give each one the most memorable points from every Pokemon, up their strength and speed, and lower their…sexual inhibitors by ten points. That's a hybrid fan-girl."

Akiko said some words behind me that I didn't realize she even _knew_!

"Yeah. Those days, I actually need bodyguards of every type available, and sometimes even they aren't enough to keep them all off."

"Okay, enough small talk," Evon interrupted, "we're here." And he bounded up a tree's carved ladder to the house above.

"Who's house is that?" I called.

"Mine."

* * *

_**Jomei**_

I looked at Akiko. "What did he say? He answered practically right when he was at the house!"

Kyerrsha answered. "His house. I'd better warn you: he's got a large family, and only about half of them are Eevees."

Akiko shrugged. "All right. We can handle that."

He shook his head. "When you get up there…don't say I didn't warn you." Then he started climbing up himself.

I stared up. "Okay…who's going up first?"

Suddenly, Kyerrsha jumped back down. "On second thought, you two had better go up first; these ladders are a little tricky for people who aren't used to them. Jomei, you first."

_Kyerrsha!_ "Okay." I slowly climbed up. I think I slipped three times, but twice Akiko kept me from falling. The third time, I was nearly there and a brown hand grabbed my wrist. The sheer fact that my weight wasn't pulling him out of the tree was proving that it wasn't Evon. I looked up and saw that the face was definitely older.

"Give me your other hand!" Once I was up, he said, "My name's Troy. Now let's get you out of the way so that your sis can come up."

I stepped out of the way and just stood there on the platform, waiting. Akiko apparently wasn't very far behind me, because her hand came up just after I moved.

Troy pulled her up and out of the way, and Kyerrsha climbed up by himself. Both Akiko and Ky were taller than Troy was, so obviously he was younger.

"Come on in," and he opened the door. "Evon's waiting inside for you, with the rest of the family."

"Why weren't you at the reception?" Kyerrsha asked.

Troy grimaced. "Same reason everyone older than Evon wasn't at the reception: homework. You'd think they'd leave off, what with the festival being only a week away and all!"

Kyerrsha suddenly bopped his crest. "Aagh! The festival! I forgot all about it!" I must have looked blank, because he explained as we went in, "Everybody's been hoping I will fix whatever the problem will be before the festival whatever year, so that they can turn it into a victory celebration."

He was probably going to say something else. I don't know. Once I got in there, I saw…everybody! There were so many colors – and I didn't even know all the names for what Akiko calls the "Eeveelutions"! All I know for sure about the room is that there were two purple ones, one yellow, one blue, one red-and-yellow, and one green-and-white, along with about three Eevees! Finally, I spotted Evon and felt better.

* * *

_**Akiko**_

I stared around at Evon's family. There were two Espeon, one each of Vaporeon, Jolteon, Flareon, and Leafeon, and three Eevees, one of which was Evon. I looked over my shoulder suspiciously at Kyerrsha. "Large family, huh?"

"I warned you."

I rolled my eyes as just about everybody laughed. Now I decided to guess who the parents were. Probably the two Espeon. I studied them and noted that one didn't exactly have the red spot on its – his – forehead covering the crest. I bowed my head to the female.

"Thank you for welcoming us into your home."

She raised her eyebrows, but at least she answered me. "You're welcome." Then her ears twitched, and she ran out of the room to answer some sound that only she heard – no, the others heard it; but they just looked annoyed.

Kyerrsha smiled. "New baby?"

Evon answered sullenly. "Sister." Then he perked up. "Can I say now what you didn't want me to say back there?"

"Sure."

"I knew you were going to come back. You said you weren't going to be gone for long."

I stared at him. "You were going to come back?"

"Let me explain what's been going on. The skies have been growing darker too early. I knew that without me, the supposed hero, everybody would panic. In my heart, I knew that any leaving would just have to be a short vacation, and I'd have to go back."

_Oh. So in other words, he had to stay on Hyrikan until this problem was resolved. Kind of sad, really._

Jomei piped up. "So what's going to happen, anyway? Are you just fighting a 'nameless evil,' like in the movies? Come to think of it, even in the 'nameless evil' movies, the evil gets named eventually."

He sighed. "I know who I have to fight. That's the problem. His name is Zarchior, and he's a…" He hesitated.

"A what?"

"A Mewtwo-hybrid."

I stared at him. "Wait a minute: even on Earth, Mewtwo's just a myth! How can he be here as a hybrid?"

"Sit down, and I'll tell you all about it that I know."

* * *

**A/N: Cute how I included that new Jonas brothers TV show, huh? It was the only way I could show what Kyerrsha used to have to deal with. Kyerrsha's explanation about Zarchior will come in the next chapter.**


	12. The Coming Danger, part 2

The Coming Danger, part 2

* * *

_**Akiko**_

"This is the story as near as anyone can get it," Kyerrsha began once we were comfortable. "Some time ago – probably about twenty years before I was born – a Kadabra-hybrid named Aximilo was taken in by the stories about Mew, and wanted to create a…the only kind of expression I can think of is, 'a Mew on Earth.' If he was an Alakazam or a Magnezone, this might have worked. If he'd spoken about it _to_ an Alakazam or a Magnezone, they would have dissuaded him from it. As it was…"

I figured I knew where this was going. Enough stories had been told on Earth about how Mewtwo was created, and hybrid myths didn't seem to be that different. "He got a DNA sample and decided to improve on it, right?"

"Right. And that is something that no hybrid in his, her, or its right mind should even consider doing."

"_Its"? Hybrids aren't limited to male and female? That's…interesting. I should ask someone about that sometime._

"So what happened?" Jomei asked.

"Unfortunately," Kyerrsha went on, "the experiment was a success. But when Zarchior woke up…" he glanced at Evon.

"You're telling Jomei," the Eevee-hybrid commented, "and he can't be that much older than me. Besides, I've heard this story just like you have. Go on."

Kyerrsha sighed and finished, "Zarchior killed Aximilo."

Jomei and I both flinched.

"At least, the stories say his body was never recovered. Nobody knows what happened to him. Written in blood on the wall of his destroyed lab was, 'Hyrikan shall pay for what it did to me.'"

Jomei asked, "Can we see the lab?" Such a boy.

Kyerrsha shook his head. "The lab's on the Dark Side, and it's been put under restriction. If you were to go, you'd need to be escorted, and I'll be busy now I'm home. But that's beside the point. The point is, Zarchior is very much alive, that lab is proof, and he's still sore about what happened to him."

"So…what has to happen now?" Jomei inquired.

"I need to find him on the Dark Side and prevent him from attacking any of the cities or anybody living in the cities. Thirty-five years of life is quite enough for him."

"Oh, is _that_ all?" Jomei yelled, tossing his hands up. "And here I thought it would be something _hard_!"

* * *

_**Kyerrsha**_

I laughed. I knew what he was really saying, of course; he thought that it would be harder to do than to say. Quite frankly, though, I agreed with him. Stopping Zarchior would be much harder than just telling him to drop his grudge, which he wouldn't just do.

"And how do you intend to start?" Akiko asked.

"I don't know," I answered, sighing and letting my ears droop. "I don't even know where he is on the Dark Side, let alone how to stop him!"

Then Troy cocked his head. "Hey. Akiko, wasn't it?"

She turned to him and answered, "That's me."

"You're a – what did humans call them – trainer?"

"How'd you guess?"

"I can smell the Pokemon you have with you."

I laughed. "Well, I dare you to guess exactly what she's got with her right now!"

Troy walked over to her and circled her, sniffing her. "Uhrm…Charmeleon, Swellow, La – um, I think that one's Lapras, and, uh…Machoke, Delcatty, and…" he stopped.

I cocked my head. He looked more shocked than stumped. "What's the last one?"

"Absol."

That got the whole family's attention, as well as mine and Jomei's.

"You brought your Absol?" Jomei asked loudly, looking horrified. "You know that thing doesn't listen to you worth beans!"

"It causes nothing but trouble when I leave it at Professor Oak's lab, so I have to keep it with me! What do you want me to do?"

"Release it again! It obviously doesn't like you!"

I was still staring at Akiko. _She had an Absol? Has an Absol? Could that have been the almost-familiar smell at her belt? Does this mean – yes! Dark conquers Psychic any day! Thank you, gods, thank you!_

"Akiko, um…" I hesitated. "I know Jomei just said that it doesn't listen to you, but…could you maybe let Absol out? I thought maybe I recognized its smell in general. If it sees these surroundings, maybe…"

She hesitated for just an instant. Then she sighed and pulled a Poke ball off her belt. "Sure. Why not?" She flung the ball in the air and declared, "Come on out, Absol!"

* * *

_**Jomei**_

I was pretty nervous as Absol appeared. I mean, I wasn't exaggerating when I said it didn't like her.

It snarled out its name and glared around. But that glare only moved to Troy, and then it turned into a stare instead. "_Ab_?" As it stared around the room, its eyes got bigger and bigger.

Kyerrsha knelt down to be at eye level. He was studying its face very carefully, and his nose was twitching. Finally, he spoke. "It's been a while since you left home, hasn't it?"

For a minute, I wondered if the portal had scrambled his head. Then Absol spoke!

"Yes. It has."

I yelped. I couldn't help it! "Absol's a girl!"

She turned and gave me this most scathing look. "Of course I'm a girl, you dimwit. What did you think?"

That hurt. Akiko cut me off, though. "We both thought you were an ordinary Pokemon. I'm sorry. What's your name?"

She studied her for a long moment. Then she shifted to her true form, proving that she was actually older than Akiko. "Morgana."

"What happened to drop you off on Earth, Morgana?"

"When I was five, someone tried to kill me. I don't think he knew about the crests. But before the hit happened, a rift or something opened under me and I fell through. When I opened my eyes, I was on Earth."

Akiko looked at Kyerrsha. "What does that sound like, Kyerrsha?"

He cocked his head. "If I didn't know better, I'd say that was Palkia's intervention."

I guessed, "That's your god of space, right?"

"Got it in one. If that was when you were five…who tried to kill you? Or what?"

"I didn't see him clearly. But he had three fingers on each hand and a tail that was thickest at its end. And his fur was awfully dark."

Kyerrsha growled, "Zarchior. That description works for him perfectly." Then he thought. "If he was trying to kill you…then that must mean that _you're _supposed to be the ultimate chosen one, not _me_!"


	13. A New Strategy

A New Strategy

* * *

_**Jomei**_

"Um…wait. No offense, but what would make _Morgana_ more likely to be the chosen one?"

Kyerrsha looked at Akiko. "He really doesn't know about Pokemon types, does he?"

"No, he never bothered to learn." She looked at me and explained. "There are very few types that can easily beat a Psychic-type. In fact, the only two I know about are Ghost and Dark."

"Oh. And Absol's a Dark-type, right?" I mean, it didn't exactly _look_ like a ghost, so…

"Bingo!" That was Evon. "You catch on quick!"

I grinned. Then I looked up at Kyerrsha. "So what do we do now, Ky?"

"Um…" He absently scratched one ear, thinking. "Morgana? What attacks do you know?"

She recited, "Scratch, Leer, Taunt, Quick Attack, Razor Wind, Pursuit, Swords Dance, Bite, Double Team, and Slash. Why?"

"I'm just making sure. Do you know how to use all those attacks properly?"

_Whoa – she has more attacks than Kyerrsha does!_

"Yeah. Had to do trial and error, for everything from Taunt onward, but I know how to use them."

"Well…" He turned to Akiko. "Any ideas?"

"Hm…" She thought about that. "Well…Zarchior doesn't know that Morgana's still alive or that she's here…"

I suddenly got an idea! "We could sneak into Zarchior's hideout with Morgana in her Poke ball, and then challenge the creep to a Pokemon battle!"

Evon rolled his eyes. "That's the lousiest idea I've ever heard!"

Troy bopped his brother on the head. "Evon, you're only saying that because you haven't been challenged. A challenge is something that no self-respecting hybrid can back down from and not be called a coward. About the only thing I'm worried about with that strategy," he looked at Akiko, "is that most of your Pokemon are just that: Pokemon. Being thus, and not hybrids, they won't be as strong, and won't last as long. And without crests, if they're defeated, they're dead."

"Oh." I drooped a little.

"And that isn't even the worst of it. He might attack _her_ before Morgana even appears on the scene!"

* * *

_**Akiko**_

I froze. There was no denying what Troy was saying: neither I nor my Pokemon had those death-preventing crests, and a battle could prove fatal for me on Hyrikan because of it.

_But…_ "Hey," I spoke up, "what does it take to get these crests?"

Everybody stared at me. Then Kyerrsha answered me. "You can't be serious!"

"I'm serious. If my team and I had crests, then we wouldn't be at any risk!"

Troy shook his head. "No, no…" He looked at Kyerrsha. "What did you tell her about the crest?"

"I hadn't told her everything right off! What do you think I am, a Slowpoke or something?"

_What is it about the crests that he hadn't told me?_ "Kyerrsha?" I asked slowly.

He sighed and looked at me again. "The crest you see on my forehead…is basically the tip of the iceberg. It isn't the entire death-preventing system on its own."

Right around there, Mama Espeon came back into the room, rocking a baby-sized bundle of fur. "I heard what you were talking about, and you can use Tiff as an example."

"She has her crest?"

"As of two months ago. Here," and she passed the bundle to Kyerrsha.

"Okay, Akiko, I want you to look carefully at Tiff here, and tell me what you see." And with that, he passed the kid to me.

I supported her carefully. She was so small, so cute, so…marked? There were fine lines all down her arms and legs, and other lines leading up to her crest on her forehead and circling her jaw. Carefully turning her and parting the fur, I couldn't see any such marks on her tail. But parting the fur on her neck, I could tell that there were marks there, too. And lifting her little shirt, I saw another metal spot in the middle of her chest, with lines branching out from it. The lines also marked along her back. I looked up at Kyerrsha and felt my eyes getting as big as Tiff's. "Don't tell me…"

He nodded. "The crest process is actually some very extensive surgery, always done in a hybrid's earliest years when they can heal fastest from it. The wires included in the process are specially designed 'growth wiring,' which will extend with the growing child and shift with it as it shifts from its true form to Pokemon to human, and even adapt to an evolution. Those marks disappear in time, which is why _I_ don't have any marks on me," he displayed his own arms for example, "but the crest always breaks skin after an evolution, and needs to be grown over again. This is why you can't have this happen to you or your Pokemon: even if you all survived the process, you would be out of action for way too long. I…I can't let you take that risk."

I stared at him. There was something in his tone… "Kyerrsha, are you trying to _protect_ _me_?"

* * *

_**Kyerrsha**_

_Aagh! I didn't mean _that_!_ "No…" I carefully corrected, knowing that if I protested, she wouldn't believe me. "I…" I wasn't _ready_ to tell her the _truth_!

Morgana stepped to my rescue. "What he means is, if you died here, your family would be devastated. And haven't you always said to Jomei that it's better to go down fighting? If you died with the placing of the crest, that's not going down fighting."

Akiko sighed. "True."

_Whew. That was close._

Suddenly, Kurt spoke up. "Um…"

I looked at the Espeon. "What is it, Kurt? Did something new come up with the crest placing technique? I remember you were very interested in the process."

"Well…" He looked kind of sheepish. He always _was_ more perceptive to feelings, and probably had already guessed what my problem really was. "It's not a new technique, per se, but there _is_ another step used after the surgery that speeds up the healing process. It's mainly used for the really weak babies that aren't likely to survive the surgery afterwards. You know how it normally takes two or three days, depending on type, for a kid to heal after surgery?"

I had a strange feeling about this. "Yeah…?"

"With the extra step used, it only takes one day, sometimes even less."

I stared at him. "You're kidding."

"Nope! Perfectly honest."

Akiko grinned at me. "I won't be out of action for very long at all. What do you say?"

I shook my head. Not saying no, just… "It's not temporary, Akiko. Getting a crest is permanent."

"Good."

I stared at her. "Wait, _good_? Why _good_?"

"Kyerrsha, I know this decision is premature, considering I've only been here one day, but I want to stay here. This is the most amazing thing that's ever happened to me! I'll let Jomei take care of my Pokemon, free Morgana – seeing as she isn't _really_ a Pokemon – "

"Where will _you_ stay, if you stayed here?" Jomei asked her.

She lifted her chin. "I'll find a place. You'd better believe I'll find a way."

I stared at her for the longest time. If she was serious… I sighed again. "Talk to your team. You need all of them to agree to this." As I took Tiff from Akiko and returned her to Evon's mother, I muttered, "This had better work out."

She smiled at me. "_**It will**_," she told me, straight into my mind. "**_True love always finds the best way_**."


	14. Agreements and Anxiety

Agreements and Anxiety

* * *

_**Kyerrsha**_

I watched as she pulled her Poke balls off her belt. With one, she hesitated. "Um…"

Chris, Evon's Vaporeon sister, grinned. "That's your Lapras, right? Leave it to me." She sprayed a Water Gun in Akiko's direction, but it curved away from her and spiraled into a bowl-shaped water bubble, hovering above the floor.

"Show-off," Troy grumbled.

"Thanks," Akiko said, and tossed her balls out to the air. "Come on out, guys, we need to talk."

Each one appeared: Lapras – splashing into the bubble – Charmeleon, Swellow, Machoke, and…Skitty?

Troy straightened, alarmed. "I thought that was a Delcatty!"

Akiko picked up the little furball. "I guess she still smells like her mother. She's only at Level 15, after my battling with her a little."

All of a sudden, I wasn't feeling so good. "Listen, Akiko…maybe putting _her_ through this isn't such a good idea."

"I'll let them decide that."

All of them were staring around in fascination at all of us hybrids. I waved absently at Swellow, who waved back uncertainly.

I cocked my head at him. "You know me. I was the Pikachu that was riding on Jomei's shoulder."

All of a sudden, he looked a lot less confused about me.

"Listen, you guys," Akiko got all of their attention. "We are going to go into a battle tomorrow, or soon at any rate. But battles here are more likely to be fatal unless we all have special equipment placed into us by surgery. Um…Mrs. Espeon? Can they see Tiff to see what I'm talking about?"

She nodded and gave Tiff carefully to Machoke. He studied her with all her thin lines, and then held her out for everyone else on Akiko's team. I couldn't tell what he thought, but the others all looked nervous. Except for Skitty; she only looked curious.

"There are steps that can be taken to make sure we can battle soon after it happens, but nobody's going to make you go through this without your consent. So…what do you all say? I'm going to do it no matter what."

They all were silent for a long while. Machoke passed Tiff back to her mother. Then…

* * *

_**Jomei**_

"_Machoke._" Machoke nodded.

I looked at Kyerrsha. "What did he say?"

"'I'm in.'" Then he cocked his head at the big guy. "Are you sure?"

He nodded again, crossing his arms. I knew that when he did that, he couldn't be talked out of it.

"_Char._" Charmeleon was next to make up his mind and go along with this. That didn't surprise me. After all, Charmeleon practically idolized the big guy on Earth. Somehow, I figured the roles would reverse whenever he evolved.

"_Swell._" Somehow, I figured that one syllable of Swellow's name was the actual answer, even without the nod.

"_Lapras._" She nodded right along with the others.

Skitty just meowed and looked up at Akiko adoringly.

I didn't feel too good about this. "Listen, you guys," I spoke up, "Whether this battle is won or lost, Akiko's staying on this planet. All of you will be staying with me, and I'll be your trainer."

"_Swellow Swell?_" Swellow cocked its head.

I looked at Kyerrsha. "Translation, please?"

"She asked you if you'd actually gotten over your fear of Pokemon already."

"Well…" I was forced to be honest. "Sort of. I'm kind of hoping that going through with this – not the surgery, just hanging around with hybrids – will get rid of my phobia altogether."

All of them smirked a little. I knew what that was about: they thought it would take a miracle to make that happen. Maybe that was the case, but at least none of them were objecting to my being their trainer after this battle.

"Okay," Kurt said, "let's get you six down to the hospital and tell them what we're going to do." He bounded out the door and started down the ladder.

Akiko recalled all her Pokemon, Morgana included, and started out after him, with Kyerrsha following.

Kyerrsha looked back, though. "Are you coming?"

"No," I answered. "I hate hospitals. More than I fear Pokemon, even."

He nodded. "To quote Akiko, nobody's going to make you do anything you don't want to. Just don't leave the tree house without someone going with you, or you'll get lost." Then he left altogether.

* * *

_**Akiko**_

Everybody seemed very nervous about Skitty. I asked Kurt about it once we got down to ground level.

He bowed his head a little. "It's…Skitty…_your_ Skitty isn't as strong as a hybrid the same age, and I do mean _age_. She, out of all your Pokemon, might not survive this. Yeah, she said 'Okay,' but she doesn't really know what's going on."

I thought about that while we walked. Kyerrsha came up next to me. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay." Admitting that I was worried about my little Skitty was just a little redundant. I was worried about my whole team.

After walking for about fifteen minutes, we got to a large tree. "This is where Mother took Tiff for her surgery. They're the best," Kurt said smugly as he walked in.

When I went in, I saw a large room, designed like the Pokemon Center's waiting room. A Blissey – what else? – was behind the desk.

"I'd like to set up an appointment for today," Kurt told her. "Five Pokemon and one human need the crest surgery with the speed-heal step. Kyerrsha's paying," and he jabbed his tail backward at the Pikachu who'd just come in.

"Gee, thanks for asking," he said sarcastically.

I asked nervously, "You are paying, right?"

"Yeah. I just hate it when he does that."

"All right. If everyone taking part will sign this paper," she slid it across the desk, "and Kyerrsha sign the line at the bottom, we can begin."

I released all but Lapras and Morgana. Each one carefully took the pen and signed their names – their species' names, of course, I don't name my Pokemon – except Skitty; hers was a scrawl which I had to steady out into her name. Then I signed my own name and looked at Kurt. "Um…can you, uh…"

He looked over at…Joanna, it said on her name tag…and said, "The last Pokemon she means to give the surgery to, is a Lapras. Can that signature wait until later?"

"If it must, but he must sign before he gets the surgery."

Kyerrsha signed his name carefully to the last line, fiddled around in his bag, and pulled out the _kyer_. "This will cover the whole price, including complications."

"Thank you. Now, only those having the surgery can come into the back room right now. I'll let you know when she can have visitors." She waved backward at a red door behind her.

I gave Morgana's ball to Kyerrsha and, followed by my whole crowd, went in through the red door.


	15. Complications

Complications

* * *

_**Akiko**_

I got to a large room and looked around. A Venusaur-hybrid was using Vine Whip to set out tables for all six of us.

"Are you, um, staying through this?" I asked.

"Yes," he answered, "because they need my Sleep Powder."

_Oh_. I released my Pokemon onto each table and climbed onto one myself. A Chansey presented the clipboard to Lapras and he signed his own name, holding the pen in his mouth.

Each of us lay back or down, as the case may be, and Venusaur used Sleep Powder.

_I wonder what Kyerrsha meant by "complications,"_ I thought right as I fell asleep.

* * *

When I woke up, I…didn't hurt, but I felt strangely stiff. I opened my eyes and saw a Chansey looking at me, looking extremely worried.

I tried to speak, but found I couldn't. Apparently, there were bandages sort of tying my jaw shut. I resorted to widening my eyes.

"There was…an accident. With Skitty." She looked like she was going to cry.

_An accident?_ Suddenly, I remembered watching little Skitty as she was sleeping next to her mother. My Skitty had been the most restless, and she moved in her sleep. _Oh no…_

Melchior – when did _he_ get here? – brought a towel over into my line of vision. Poor Skitty was still breathing, but her little chest was a bloody mess.

Melchior just looked at me. "The rest of your team are fine, and have already undergone the extra step. That's why I was here, actually."

_Did _I _have the extra step done?_ I wondered.

"No," he answered my thought, "because I had decided to wait and find out if there were any complications before helping you. Only your team have had it. All except Skitty."

_Why?_

"The extra step requires taking a DNA sample from the patient and then setting them in a machine that re-merges them with their DNA, which closes over the skin. This process can also, theoretically, merge a human with a Pokemon to create a hybrid. This is not where we hybrids came from originally," he added, "as it was my father's invention."

_Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?_

"Yes. We can save your Skitty, but only if you want to be merged with her. Her mind likely won't survive the process, but you will receive knowledge of all her attacks."

I thought about that for a long time. If this meant I would become a hybrid…

_Do it._

He nodded at the Chansey, and she wheeled me after Melchior. We went into another large room, and I was unloaded into one side of a big glass bottle. Melchior set Skitty gently on the floor on the other side, and then he stepped out and shut the door.

I don't know what he did, but presumably he activated the machine, because suddenly I felt the floor start moving, and I was going faster and faster…

I remember wondering what it was I'd gotten myself into before blacking out.

* * *

_**Kyerrsha**_

I waited outside nervously. A Chansey had brought over each Poke ball in turn, telling me what it was inside. After two hours, I'd gotten all but Skitty, and Akiko still hadn't materialized.

Kurt asked the Blissey at the counter something in a low voice, and got an answer from the worried lady. He came over and said to me, "There was a complication. Skitty started running in her sleep and made a scalpel slice open her chest."

I winced. A slice that big could kill a little thing like Skitty.

"Your sensei had a suggestion that could keep the number of battlers six, but the Blissey's been sworn to secrecy about it."

Trust my sensei to make sure I didn't know what was going on.

Finally, the door opened. A Chansey came through, followed by…a Skitty-hybrid? _Wait…_

She was looking at her paws with a curious expression on her face. Then she looked up at me. "What do you think, Kyerrsha? Can you even recognize me anymore?"

I recognized her now, of course. That sense of humor couldn't be found anywhere else. "Akiko, what will your brother say when he sees you like this?"

She grinned. "He'll just have to get over it. I have no intention of going back, especially since Skitty," her face went sad, "her mind didn't survive the merge. She was too scared."

I patted her shoulder. "There can be only one mind in a hybrid's head, Akiko, and yours was strongest."

She smiled at me. "So now I truly belong here."

That smile made my fur tingle, but how was I going to tell her how I felt? Sure, now she's a hybrid, but...

* * *

_**Jomei**_

I was pacing in circles, waiting for the three to come back.

Evon piped up from a chair. "Knock it off, Jo! What are you, a Luxray-hybrid?"

I laughed nervously, though I didn't get the joke. "I didn't think that the crest thing took so long."

"Jomei, this is surgery. It's going to take time, especially since there are six of them." Then his ears quirked. "I think I hear them coming back."

Troy cocked his own ears and grinned. "Yeah, that's them: I'd know Kurt's pawsteps and Kyerrsha's walk any day."

He didn't mention Akiko, but that was okay. He didn't know her as well.

Kurt bounded through the door. "The surgery was a success for everybody!"

Everyone still in the room cheered, and I sighed in relief.

Kyerrsha bounded through next. "You won't believe what Akiko looks like now!" he declared.

_Huh?_

"There was one complication, and we wanted to keep the Pokemon number at six on her team. So…"

Then Akiko came in. I just stared.

She looked about the same, except...her hair had turned pink!

"Uh…was that a side-effect from the surgery or something?"

She laughed. "No, this is a side-effect from what the Alakazam-hybrid did to me and Skitty. She was hurt too badly to survive, so they DNA-merged her with me."

Then she shifted right before my eyes! Her ears got bigger, pointed, and covered with pink fur, her hands and feet looked more like paws, and she had a long, human-sized Skitty tail!

"What do you think?"

"Uh…"

"Don't answer that," she interrupted with a grin.

_Still Akiko!_


	16. LastMinute Lessons Starting Off!

Last-Minute Classes; Heading Off!

* * *

_**Jomei**_

Everybody started congratulating Akiko on her new look.

I finally managed to find my voice and remember I was her little brother. "Wasn't getting a crest extensive enough surgery already? Why'd you have them remodel you completely?"

Akiko just laughed. She even had little fangs, like Skitty.

"Okay," a familiar voice from the doorway said, "the celebration's over."

I jumped a mile. I couldn't help it: Alakazam really seems to enjoy sneaking up on people!

Kyerrsha just looked bored. "Why are you here, Sensei?"

"Because I know your friend well enough after the merging process to know that she is intent on rushing off to find Zarkior as soon as possible, but with only eight attacks, and only three of them doing damage, she isn't ready right now. And you could use some more power attacks of your own."

"Sensei…" Kyerrsha sounded like me when I hear that I need to do an extra essay on top of my original homework. I immediately felt sorry for the guy.

"You two will be studying together most of the time. You will both be learning Shock Wave and Charge Beam."

Kyerrsha's face changed dramatically. "Seriously? I thought you said I wasn't ready for those attacks!"

"You weren't, before you evolved. But your evolution, and your experiences on Earth, have altered the playing field considerably."

"Wait," I spoke up, "why are we teaching these attacks to Akiko if they're that strong?"

Alakazam just looked at me with this…look…I think it was disdain. "Two reasons. One, we don't have time to teach five completely different attacks to the two hybrids, and it's simpler anyway to teach two people the same attacks. Akiko's not going to learn more than two new attacks, though, because she is still unused to being a hybrid. Which leads us to reason number two: we don't have a choice."

"Oh."

Akiko whapped my back with her tail. "Hey, relax. It's not all bad. For one thing, you get to stay behind. Not having a crest means you would be putting your life at risk, and if you're going to inherit my Pokemon, you need to stay alive."

"We're talking about you, Kiki," I retorted, using my baby name for her. "You're the one that's going back to school!"

Evon snorted. "'Kiki'?"

Suddenly, I got hit twice, once on each side of my face! The strength knocked me down!

* * *

_**Kyerrsha**_

I stared at her for a second. Then I laughed. "Congratulations, Akiko. You just used the attack Double Slap."

She was staring at her tail, which was what had hit Jomei. Then she looked up at…Troy? "You're going to have to explain official battle rules to me sometime, so that I can participate!"

_Why's she asking _him?_ Oh yeah – you don't know for sure how the official battles work; nobody taught you the rules, and you didn't have time to go looking yourself._ It still stung, though, that she just assumed I didn't know.

"Come on, Akiko, Kyerrsha," Sensei interrupted, "you two need to learn new attacks, and how to use them properly."

I rolled my eyes and caught Akiko doing the same thing.

"Sure, Sensei," Akiko answered as she headed for the doorway. Just as she was walking past Sensei, though, she stopped. "'Five'? Wouldn't the number have been four?"

My ears perked; I hadn't noticed that!

"Kyerrsha's learning one more attack than you. Now get going."

I suddenly realized I knew what that attack was: Thunder Punch! "Thank you, Sensei!"

He just looked at me. "Don't thank me until you've defeated Zarkior."

I ran out after Akiko, who was about to climb down the ladder. "Whoa!" I stopped her. "Hybrids hardly ever use ladders to get down from trees or high places."

"Really?" she asked as she came back up.

"Really. Young kids use the ladders to go down – Evon still does – and anyone carrying fragile objects, but most of the time hybrids just jump." I demonstrated by launching myself off the platform into the air.

My landing was perfect – onto the hands, forward roll onto my tail, then tip forwards onto my feet! I fought down an irrational surge of pride and called up, "Hybrids like you and me, who generally run on all fours, tend to land like that. Go on – try it! If it looks like you're going to crash, I'll catch you."

* * *

_**Akiko**_

Somehow, I figured he really would; he'd hate to get embarrassed by my messing up. I crouched down at the edge of the platform, focused on where I wanted to land, and –

Hesitated.

I sighed; human fears were pretty hard to break. I was invincible, and I still didn't want to jump!

Then I looked down at Kyerrsha. He was standing there, with his arms moving up from his sides and dropping back down, just waiting for me.

Suddenly, I heard in my mind, "_**Jump or I'll carry you down.**_"

I looked over my shoulder at Melchior. "Don't rush me!" With that, I focused on Kyerrsha and jumped.

"Whoa!" Kyerrsha ran after me as I sailed over his head.

That was the last thing I noticed before I impacted a tree with my hands and my whole body laid out against it.

Kyerrsha did catch me as I fell off the tree.

"Sorry. I kind of…miscalculated my strength."

_Is my fur thick enough to hide my blush?_

Judging by his smile, it wasn't. "Don't worry about it. All first-timers misjudge that jump. I did."

"Really?"

"You're going to answer a lot of information tidbits that way, aren't you?"

At least it made me laugh.

"If you've sufficiently recovered," Melchior jumped the last few rungs and walked over, "we must go to the dojo."

"Yes, sir," Kyerrsha rolled his eyes and set me down.

* * *

_**Jomei**_

_Three hours later_

I'd been playing a new game with Evon, Troy and their other Eevee sister – I forgot her name again – when the conversation shifted to the festival again.

"What is this festival anyway?" I asked.

"It's the best thing in the world! All hybrids get together on one Side or another, make a whole lot of food, and games, contests, sports and battles are played for a whole two weeks! And there's no school, either! Anyone who wants to evolve with a stone, can! Normally, a hybrid has to earn the stone with really, really good grades or by winning a contest or tournament."

"Whoa. Have you ever actually been to one?"

"Sure – lots. I don't remember the first few times, I was too young. Mom always brought me. This year, though, I'm going with Dad. Mom's staying with Tiff."

Then Troy's ears moved. "I think they're coming back."

"How can you tell? If they're going, they're going, right?"

"Kurt told me that he'd telepathically made Kyerrsha promise that he would check in with us before leaving."

Before I could answer, Kyerrsha's voice drifted up. "I'm not coming up!"

We ran over to the door and looked down. Akiko looked a little frazzled.

"Sensei gave us a map of the Dark Side so that we could find our way to the lab. It's the best starting spot we have right now. Maybe Akiko and I will find a clue while we're there. And no," he added, "none of you kids are coming! This has to be an effort by the smallest number of visible people as possible."

All the Eevees groaned, but they gave their best wishes and went back inside.

I stayed a little longer. "Akiko?"

"Yeah?"

"Uh…be careful."

She grinned up at me. "Aren't I always?"

Then they walked off, towards Chrysanthemum City.


	17. Villainous Plans

Villainous Plans

* * *

_**Zykhon**_

_I looked up from my far-viewing meditations. "Your people have done nothing to stop me in thirty-five years, Aximilo. How does that feel?"_

_The pathetic Kadabra looked up from where I'd chained him. "The chosen one will come to stop you. A chosen one always comes."_

_Good grief. "I forgot to mention: thirty years ago, when you said that same thing, I went out and killed all Dark-type and Ghost-type children I could find. There are none who can stand up to me."_

_It was very gratifying to watch him sag in defeat. "If you already know your success, why haven't you killed me yet?"_

"_Don't tempt me. The only reason I haven't is because I'm using information from your mind to understand more about your hideous people."_

_And I did know more now. There was a kind of festival coming up in another few days. That was when I was planning to strike. I also knew that some newcomers were on the planet._

_I conjured into the air an image of the two strange people. "Who are these people, and why are they choosing to stay in their weakest forms?"_

_He lifted his head slowly, and his eyes focused at last on the images. "They don't choose to stay in that form; those are their true forms. They're humans."_

"_Humans? No threat to me, then." I immediately banished the image. "I will finish them off along with the rest of hybrid-kind."_

* * *

_**Aximilo**_

_I hung my head again, keeping my emotions subdued. I knew something he didn't, and I didn't want him to learn of this. I had felt a surge of power while he'd been out that time. I had felt like it was…a legendary, doing something to try and save this world. Then Uxie had come to me in my meditations._

"_There is no need for despair," it had said, "for the one who can save you is on Earth, waiting for events to bring her back to the world that needs her."_

_If one of those humans had found her, then there was still a chance of the world being saved._

_If only the gods were looking out for all of us._

**A/N: I just had to throw in something from the villain's POV. And yes, everybody was getting his name wrong. This is his true name.**

* * *


	18. The Dark Side

The Dark Side

* * *

_**Kyerrsha**_

I'd say I wasn't nervous about going to the Dark Side to find Zarkior, but I'd be lying. As I strode into Chrysanthemum City, I could sense the energy currents among the people. They knew what I was going off to do.

Akiko wasn't nervous, though. I don't know why. Maybe she still wasn't thinking this through, like when she recklessly volunteered her Pokemon for the crest surgery?

"Come on, Kyerrsha!" she called from in front of the tree, "Before I start chasing my tail from boredom!"

I sighed and picked up the pace. I wasn't going to reprimand her in front of everybody.

Once we got inside, though, I turned on her. "What do you think this is? Do you think you're still on summer vacation? This is _real_ life, a _real_ battle, and the crest system isn't infallible! It simply prevents broken limbs, broken spines, fractured skulls, brain damage, and deaths from extremes of electricity, fire and ice!" A long list. She was going to ask...

"Um…isn't that everything?" She wasn't thinking. She was the trainer, she _knew_ this!

"_No_! Suffocation and drowning are still quite possible, and they're still working all the bugs out of the poison-death prevention part, which is why Poison-type attacks are generally discouraged in official battles! I thought being taught Charge Beam and Shock Wave would tell you that this is serious!"

She was silent for a while. Had I just lost any chance I might have had?

"Come on," I turned to the doorway. "We'd better be going."

"Kyerrsha?"

I paused. She didn't sound mad; I just didn't recognize the tone she was using. "Yeah?"

"Do you regret going along with my idea?"

"No kidding!" I answered without thinking. Then I backed up. "Well…I'm regretting…something. I'm not sure what I wish we hadn't done." I shook my head, hitting myself in the face with my ears. "We're wasting time. Let's go."

Okay, that was a cop-out. But I couldn't figure out how to answer her.

Then I felt a hit against my back. Akiko had just whacked me with her tail! "You gotta relax, or you'll be a nervous wreck by the time we find this guy! That's what I'm doing! You think I'm being this perky because I don't understand? I understand. I'm just…trying to keep the tension from getting to me. That's all."

_Oh._ Well, I wasn't sure how to answer that. I stepped through the door, stared at her eyes, and said clearly, "Amethyst City."

* * *

_**Akiko**_

I stepped after him and repeated, "Amethyst City." Why "amethyst," I wonder?

When I stepped out, I had to blink for a minute. The light was dimmer, and it wasn't natural sunlight: it was shining crystals in the walls!

_Oh._ That's _"why amethyst."_

"Hey, Layla," Kyerrsha said from somewhere off to my right. When I looked, I saw that he was talking to an Umbreon-girl. "Akiko, this is Layla. She's Evon's sister. Layla, this is Akiko."

She looked over at me – boy, those eyes are even _spookier_ on a hybrid than on a regular Umbreon! Oh, she said something to me.

"So you're Akiko. It's nice to meet you. Troy called me and told me you were very interesting, as a human newly-turned hybrid."

"Um…thanks?" What was I supposed to make of that?

"I got to speak with your brother as well. He seemed nervous of me for some reason."

I figured I could guess why, but I wasn't going to say.

"Anyway, I'm going to be leading you to the lab. I don't have the security clearance to let you in there, but Otieno would let Kyerrsha through."

"What's Otieno?" I had enough time to think that comment over, and I believe it worked out fine. "Who" was a tad irrelevant here, where everybody was a different species.

"He's a Banette. He'd been assigned that place to keep kids out. Anyone who's not scared of him, stay away because of the nameless Shedinja."

Kyerrsha shuddered. Heard scary stories about both of them, perhaps?

"Well, let's go!"

Stepping out, I saw that the Dark Side had been aptly named. I couldn't see anything except the few dimly glowing crystals set along the pathways.

Layla stepped past me. "I'll lead the way. The places with tower portals are the brightest it gets around here, to make sure that travelers aren't blinded upon crossing."

"Blinded by the sun side, or blinded by the lack of light?" I asked.

"Yes."

_O-kayyy…I was right to be apprehensive about this. And so was Kyerrsha._

_What was I getting into?_


	19. To the Abandoned Lab!

To the Abandoned Lab!

* * *

_**Akiko**_

My eyes adjusted to the utter lack of typical light quickly. What also happened quick was that I got bored. "Hey, Kyerrsha, what is it about Banette? I mean, are there stories about Banettes here like there are back on Earth?"

"Um, there are stories. I'm not sure they're exactly the same. It's mostly that ghosts are a tad…"

"Scary?" I finished with irony in my tone.

"Um, yeah. I know it seems stupid to be scared of ghosts, but well, I am, a little. Also, I still don't like the attention I'm getting right now."

_Attention?_ Then I twitched my ears and actually listened. Oh, there _were_ others around. I hadn't noticed before. "Why are they all looking at us? Or do I already know?"

Layla was the one who answered. "Actually, the Dark-side hybrids have been on edge for years, ever since the big child-disappearance."

_WHAAA?_

Kyerrsha was surprised, too. "Who disappeared?"

"Try what, or how many. It was all the Dark-type and Ghost-type children. Nobody was able to find them. That is, until their bodies turned up in the river. That was when they put a delay on all the Dark-type and Ghost-type eggs, to keep them from hatching. We're dealing with experience right now, as opposed to youth." Then she rethought her answer. "Well, they always let one Dark and one Ghost hatch every year, just to find out how long the deaths would keep happening. For twenty-five years, the kid kept disappearing. Then, five years ago, the kid survived longer than a week. It was as though whoever was responsible for it got tired of killing off its phobia."

_Or maybe Zarkior just decided that by the time the kids in question grew up, there wouldn't be anything left to save._

Kyerrsha must have been thinking the same thing. "Are we there yet?"

She grinned at us. "Just up ahead, actually. And here's where I'm going to leave you." She stopped and let us walk ahead.

I shifted down to human form and grabbed Kyerrsha's hand. "Come on, let's do this."

"Uh…yeah. Let's do this." Together, we approached the building.

It was so ramshackle that it was believable that it was thirty years since anyone was there. No security tape, but…maybe they didn't need it.

* * *

_**Kyerrsha**_

"_**Who comes?**_"

I swear, I nearly jumped out of my fur at the voice. "Kyerrsha, the Chosen One, and assistant." I'd phrased that deliberately. After all, _I _wasn't the chosen one: Morgana was. But here, this could get us in.

Then he glided around the corner, and I nearly bolted in fright. Akiko didn't move, though, and she was still holding my hand.

He looked at us, and asked, "_**This is what the gods sent us?**_"

_How was he talking without unzipping his mouth? Was he using telepathy?_ My brain wasn't working properly. "Yes, sir."

"You do a pretty good job of scaring off the thrill-seekers, don't you?" Akiko asked. Sheesh, couldn't she just let _me_ talk? "What happens when a Ghost comes by? Wouldn't they know you're not that scary?"

That zipper-mouth curved up in a smile. "_**Well, there aren't as many Ghost-type children to scare off. But when I was assigned my job, my superiors thought of that. I have a work-shift with a Shedinja.**_"

_Shedinja?_ That _really_ made me shudder.

"Lotsa stories about that one, huh?" she asked with a wry quirk to her mouth.

He nodded. "_**Even I had some apprehension about going on shift with it. But it's actually not as bad as all that.**_" Then he shook himself. "_**Here's your pass,**_" and he handed me a metal card. "_**If you run into Shedinja, show it that, and it'll let you go by. Don't give the pass to him, though; that opens the door.**_"

I nodded slowly and stepped carefully past him, leading Akiko.

Akiko patted my hand. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

"Easy for you to say, Fearless!" I teased.

I think she was about to answer, but suddenly a Shedinja came out of nowhere! Akiko ended up squeaking, and I held up the card, a bit frantically.

It slowed down, stopped about two feet away from me, and studied the card. Then it glided backward again, bowing a little.

Akiko giggled nervously as we went on past. "Not much of a talker, is he?"

I couldn't help it; I laughed too. "Well, I don't know ghosts."

The door was simple enough. I slipped the card into its slot, waited for a beat, then pulled it back out and waited.

Nothing happened.

Akiko took the card from me and studied it. Then she turned it around and slipped it in again.

The door…chimed, she pulled the card back out, and the door opened.

She smirked at me and asked, "Not used to this sort of thing, are you?"

I just shook my head, and we both went in.

* * *

_**Akiko**_

The place was a mess, and it was darker than outside. "Hey, Ky, how about a light?"

He lightning-bent some electricity away from his cheeks and held up the ball. It was definitely a mess: tables broken, a chair thrown against the wall, and cracks everywhere. There was a queer machine against one wall, with a shattered tube big enough for a person to stand in as part of it. And on another wall, there was that message in blood. How morbid.

I barely glanced at the message. Instead, I wandered over to the broken table and glanced at the wreckage that apparently had been on it. There was a mess of papers on the floor, which I picked up and studied. "Hey, Kyerrsha, look at these."

He brought the lightning ball over to me and looked himself. "The Kadabra's notes!" He took them from me and studied them. "Let's see… 'I'm attempting to create a mortal Mew, but all my tests have died. I'm going to try again, merging the altered DNA with a human.'"

"What? Zarkior's a human? Like me?"

"Apparently. Let's see what else there is. Ah… 'I found a human child on Earth. He told me that his name is Zak. He seemed the strongest of the two children I had seen, which is why I selected him. The other, who Zak called Stan, wasn't as strong, so – '"

"Wait," I interrupted, "did you say 'Stan'?"

"Yea – wait, I see where you're going. Do you really think that this Stan is the same as your rival Stan?"

"Well, it's not exactly a common name as far as I know."

"So it's a possibility. Well, the rest of the notes are pretty obvious: the merge was successful, now all he has to do is wait for the kid to wake up. And the results are just as obvious." He gestured around at the mess. "I don't think there's anything more for us to do here. Let's see what's in the other rooms."

* * *

_**Zykhon**_

I watched the two from afar. They seemed to have found some of Aximilo's notes. What surprised me was how interested they were in them.

"What did you write in those notes, Aximilo?"

He looked up, slower than before. "Just my research."

"They find these notes fascinating. Why would they find research fascinating?"

"You cannot hear them?"

"I hear them," I said, carefully. I couldn't, but I could read lips well enough. "They seem especially fascinated with your mention of names. Why would names mean so much to them?"

"I don't know. But names mean power to many. Maybe they…think that by searching for more information about those names, they can discover more answers."

"Or maybe they're seeking a way to overpower me. Well, I shall not let them."

"If you kill this human the way you killed all those children, the other human will wonder, and your secrets will be known. I had not thought you were quite ready for that."

"I am not going to kill them, you idiot. I am going to capture them and, in the case of the human, find out why they're here." And with that, I lifted my hand and spun it in the air. _Let them fall asleep, that I may bring them in myself._

_**Kyerrsha**_

I was searching the other rooms with my lightning ball, my mind not really on the search, when I suddenly felt a strange feeling. The lightning ball was fading to nonexistance, and _I _wasn't causing it to fade, either! "Akiko," I called, trying to stifle a yawn, "are you okay?"

"Uh…yeah. Just really sleepy, is all."

"Same. Somehow, I don't think that this is the effect of wandering around in the dark." Proving that fact, I yawned in the middle of that.

"Here's a thought," she said, walking towards me, "let's just let this happen. If we're being forced to sleep…" she fell into me, making me fall down, "then let's…let him…bring us…to him."

_Sleeping sounds better all the time,_ I thought, dropping one arm over her while I also dropped off to sleep.

* * *

**A/N: The plot thickens! ^_^**

* * *


	20. The Epic Battle, Part 1

The Epic Battle, part 1

* * *

_**Akiko**_

I opened my eyes slowly. I hadn't just been feeling tired; I'd also been feeling a slight tingle in my cheeks when I'd started feeling so sleepy. _Oxygen starvation. I might have known. Zarkior knows from experience that one of the few things that actually works on a hybrid is suffocation._

Right now, though, I mainly felt like something was really strange. Glancing around, I saw that I was in a stone room, with faint light coming from the walls. Kyerrsha was underneath me, with his arm draped over my back, and sitting against one wall was a Kadabra! An extremely malnourished Kadabra-hybrid, white beneath his fur, but a Kadabra nonetheless.

"Hey," I called, pushing myself up as much as I could, "you're that Kadabra scientist, aren't you? So you weren't killed after all? That message on the wall made everyone think you were."

"No," he answered, still staring at his feet, "_that_ injury healed itself soon after. I am Zykhon's creator: Aximilo."

"Zykhon?" I repeated. "I thought it was Zarkior."

He laughed a little. "He _did_ call himself Zarkior once. Zykhon's his new title."

"Is something wrong with just Zak?"

That made Aximilo look up. "I'm not sure just how much he remembers."

"Do you think he'd remember his brother?"

"I'm not sure."

Then Kyerrsha stirred under me and groaned. "Oh, my head. Why can't I move?"

"Don't electrify, Ky, that's me."

Well, I got him to laugh. "I wouldn't have anyway. How's your team?"

"I haven't asked them yet. Hey, meet Aximilo. He made Zak into a hybrid."

Before I could say anything else, though, the door opened and something glided in. It had small hornlike projections on its head, a cable-type thing helping his neck keep his head on his body – at least, that's what it looked like – three fingers on each hand, two-toed feet, and a long tail protruding from below a dark green robe.

I cocked my head. "Zykhon, I presume?"

He just…looked at me. "You are one of the humans that came here."

It wasn't a question, so I just sat there and stared right back.

"Why did you come here?"

I grinned foolishly. "Curiosity." _If he thinks I'm witless, maybe he'll consider me less of a threat._

"_**Wishful thinking, human. You are as intelligent as any human.**_"

I jumped backwards off of Kyerrsha. "Sheesh! Do all Psychic-type hybrids have telepathy?!"

Kyerrsha sat up, rubbing his head some more. "Pretty much."

"So," he continued, "I asked you a question. I can tell when you're lying, so give me the true answer."

I opened my mouth for a retort, but Kyerrsha broke in. "We came to defeat you in a battle and rescue Aximilo!"

_AAGH!!! Couldn't he have let_ me _do the talking?_

"_You_? Defeat _me_?" Well, Kyerrsha got Zykhon to laugh. "A human and a mutated Pikachu think they can defeat me! Can you believe it, Aximilo?"

Aximilo's conversation had dried up back when Zykhon first came in. He didn't answer.

I stood up. "If you can read my mind, then I might as well tell you: I'm a Pokemon trainer, with a full team of six. I will battle you using all of them, as well as my friend here."

"All at once? You don't seem to have that much sense. I'm more powerful than any of them."

I rolled my eyes. "As far as I can make out, here on Hyrikan a Challenge is something that cannot honorably be turned down. I Challenged you, now you must answer or be declared a coward, Zak."

He stiffened. "My name is Zykhon, and I am no coward. I shall battle you!"

_Too much, too soon. He knows his name's Zak._ "Where shall we battle? This room's too small."

He opened the door and led the way out. "You come too, Aximilo. All battles need a referee, and we'll all be busy." He sounded like he was mocking somebody. I wonder who?

He led the way all the way to a large crater, with boulders strewn about. "Here is where we shall battle."

I glanced around. "This would work…if I believed you were honorable enough to play by the rules."

"You think I wouldn't?"

"Frankly, yes. Stan never would."

He looked at me for a long moment. "Where do you suggest we battle?"

I lifted my chin. "The Sun Side."

* * *

_**Kyerrsha**_

_Akiko, what are you doing?_ Before I could say anything, though, Zykhon spoke again. "Very well."

He lifted off the ground, and I suddenly felt myself lifting up as well. Looking around, I saw that Akiko and Aximilo were also floating.

We flew slowly back across the sky, attracting the attention of all who were on the ground. They followed after, watching us, and running for towers as soon as they realized that we were going to the Sun Side.

The sky got brighter and brighter, until we got to the other side of the mountains and the light was at its brightest. I suddenly spotted one of the Element-ball arenas. "There!" I called, pointing.

Zykhon looked down; then he set all of us at a glide down to the arena. I'd chosen that place carefully, in anticipation of what would happen.

Sure enough, as soon as we set foot on the grass inside, people started pouring through the doors into the bleachers – from both sides of the planet.

He looked up at the bleachers and smiled. "So. We shall have an audience. Perhaps it's better this way." He flew to one side of the arena and landed, leaving us to run to the other side.

Aximilo slowly walked the short way over to one wall, where the referee's bench was. Once he was settled on the bench, he called to Akiko, "Release your team on the benches."

I looked at Akiko. "Are you sure about this?"

"Positive." She released her Pokemon onto the benches behind us. They looked up at her expectantly, while I reluctantly sat down next to Charmeleon.

"So," she asked, "Who wants to go first? Kyerrsha, Morgana," she added, "You'll be going last, same as me. Might as well have the true hybrids wait."

Morgana and I nodded slowly. The others strained around to see our opponent. Then Lapras raised a fin. "_Might as well get me over with._"

Akiko set her hand against Lapras' neck and glanced at Aximilo, who touched a switch next to him. A large panel opened on our side of the field, revealing that it covered a pool.

As Lapras dove in and got set, Aximilo called out, "The rules are simple: the attack you mean to use must be announced, and only one hybrid on each side can battle at a time. Whoever has all members unable to battle loses, and surrendering is an option."

Akiko grinned. "Suits me!"

"Very well," Zykhon retorted.

I shuddered. I didn't know a thing about battling like this.

"Round One shall take place between Zykhon and Lapras. _**Begin**_!"


	21. The Epic Battle, Part 2

* * *

The Epic Battle, part 2

* * *

_**Akiko**_

"Confusion!" Zak yelled, firing out his attack from his hands.

"Dodge it, Lapras!" I commanded, hoping that the battle rules would allow for this.

When Aximilo didn't say anything at Lapras' submergence, I knew that dodging was allowed. Now all I had to do was figure out just what would work against this guy to wear him down.

"Lapras, use Ice Shard!"

Its head reared out of the water and fired, one eye shut for aim.

_Yes!_ She actually hit him full in the stomach!

Of course, by the look on his face, I knew Lapras was in trouble, and by proxy, me.

"Swift!"

I winced as the starry attack made contact and achieved OHKO.

Aximilo straightened up. "Lapras is unable to battle. Round One goes to Zykhon!"

Zak looked out at the crowds with a big smirk.

I rolled my eyes and recalled Lapras. Then I walked over to my team while Aximilo closed the panel again. "Okay, who's next?"

Machoke and Charmeleon spent about a minute staring at each other. Swellow rolled his eyes and raised his wing.

I smirked. "Saving the argument?"

He nodded.

"Well…you're highest level. I'd rather you waited." I reached over and tapped both Machoke and Charmeleon on the arms. "Hey, guys? I'd better save you two the argument: Machoke, you're next."

They nodded slowly, and Machoke ran out.

Aximilo called to the audience, "Round Two will be between Zykhon and Machoke. _**Begin**_!"

As Machoke started running in evasive maneuvers, dodging Zykhon's various attacks, I glanced up and saw Jomei in the bleachers! What was _he_ doing here?

* * *

_**Jomei**_

I watched nervously from the stands. Kurt had got us front-row seats, and I hadn't been able to tell them just what could happen in Akiko's battles.

Machoke was battling with his hardest and most serious. At least one of them was being serious. Once, Zykhon just stood there and let Machoke hit him – _twice_! That was right before he flattened him, of course, but _still_!

"_Machoke is unable to battle. Round Two goes to Zykhon!_"

I heard a low growl next to me. I could tell that it was a growl of nervous frustration, not an actual menacing growl. Whoa – I was actually getting used to Pokemon! Looking over, I saw that there was a…something, with blue and black fur, spikes on the backs of his hands, and large pointed ears.

I leaned the other way and whispered, "Evon? What species is that?"

Evon leaned around me and looked. Then he whispered back, "Lucario. Why?"

"Just wondering."

"_Round Three will be between Zykhon and Charmeleon. **Begin**!_"

After Evon went back to watching, I carefully tapped the Lucario on the shoulder. "Um, Lucario?"

Well, he looked at me. Boy, his eyes were scary-red! "Yes?"

"Uh…what's wrong?"

He growled again and looked forward. "Zykhon knows that he's going to win, so why's he toying with her?"

I stared. "Uh…come again? I mean, sure he let Machoke hit him, but – "

"There are many more powerful attacks he could be using to win immediately! Why's he only using Swift, Confusion, and Future Sight to attack?"

"Uh…uh…" I thought about that. I only recognized Swift by sight, though I'd heard the other attacks named before – Future Sight was what Zykhon had used on Machoke. And – whoa! That must have been Confusion! Poor Charmeleon.

"_Charmeleon is unable to battle. Round Three goes to Zykhon!_"

But…hm. "Maybe…maybe he doesn't know anything else." Then I noticed Akiko look over at the Kadabra with this look so intense, that she had to be using telepathy or something. What was she asking?

Then he nodded, and she gave something to Swellow…three somethings…wait…

Swellow flew up to me and just hovered there. It took me a minute to register that it had a Poke ball in each talon, and one in its beak.

"Oh, Akiko wants me to hang onto the guys?"

It nodded.

"Okay…" I took the ball from its talons and shoved them in my pockets, but when I looked up, Swellow was leaving! "Uh, where…?"

The Lucario tapped my shoulder. "He gave it to me. He was in a hurry to get back to the battlefield." He held out the last ball.

"Oh. Uh…thanks." I took the last ball and shoved it with the others.

"_Round Four will be between Zykhon and Swellow. **Begin**!_"

Then I watched. And laughed. "No wonder she wanted Swellow to go last: he's the strongest, and can last the longest."

"You realize it's only a matter of time before she has to ask someone else, right?"

"Yeah. It's still fun to watch, especially – _aack_!" Aerial Ace, right past both our heads! "Hey, watch it!" I yelled after Swellow, not really caring if it heard me.

* * *

Swellow landed, like, a million hits in a row before the inevitable happened: a Swift made contact.

* * *

_**Akiko**_

"Swellow is unable to battle. Round Four goes to Zykhon!"

I growled softly to myself as I recalled Swellow. At least now I had some measure of Zak's strength: he was definitely lower level than Swellow, but higher level than everyone else on my team, including me. Then I looked at the ball in my hand. Swellow had carried the other balls up to Jomei, but now Swellow was unconscious. I glanced up at Zak, who was floating, and sighed.

_Aximilo, I know you're listening. Could you maybe call truce on Zykhon so that he can drop off Swellow with my brother?_

He didn't answer me, but I saw the two of them make eye contact. Then Zak looked over at me and held out his hand.

I tossed Swellow's ball in his general direction, but kept watching it, just to be safe. He caught it with kinesis and sent it up to Jomei, who looked very creeped out as he took the ball from the air.

_At least he didn't kill Jomei with it._ I looked over at Kyerrsha and Morgana. "Well? Morgana, I know you're going last, but who's going next, me or Kyerrsha?"

"What's the difference?" Morgana asked.

"Well…if I went first, then I'd be betraying my secret. Not that he doesn't already _know_, but… And anyway, if it's Kyerrsha, then I'd be telling him what to do."

"I'd do _anything_ you told me to," Ky interrupted, with this weird tone to his voice. I glanced at him.

"Ky, you're not…in love with me, are you? This is kind of a weird time, don't you think?"

"I've loved you since I saw you facing down Sensei like he was nothing. But my feelings aside, I think you'd better go after me."

I cocked my head. "So why am I going between you and Morgana?"

"Because of all the rules I barely remember, switching is allowed. If I get knocked out, it isn't a big deal, because I'm not the Chosen One. Morgana _is_ the Chosen One, so she can switch in from you. The catch is, you're the only one who can say 'we should stop now,' since you'd set the terms and he answered _your_ challenge. So I go next, and go all-out. You go after me, and then switch with Morgana."

"I might _not_ actually fight him. He's higher level than me." But I shrugged and set my hand against Kyerrsha's shoulder anyway, staring at Aximilo.

He nodded, and Kyerrsha started out.

I caught his tail and held him back for a second. When we made eye contact, I said softly, "I love you too, Ky. Be careful out there."

He smiled at me, I let go, and he bounded out.

"Round Five is between Zykhon and Kyerrsha."

The crowds gasped, which I'd expected, since Kyerrsha was supposedly the Chosen One.

"**_Begin_**!"


	22. The Epic Battle, Part 3

The Epic Battle, part 3

* * *

_**AKIKO**_

"Thunderbolt!"

"Swift!"

The two attacks collided in mid-air, and canceled each other out – barely.

I tried another tack. "Use, um…" _What attacks does he have? He forgot to tell me!_ "Thunder Wave!"

He tried his best, but it didn't seem to affect Zak. Or if it did, he shook it off quickly. "Future Sight!"

I knew I had to be fast here. "Wait for it…wait for it…"

Kyerrsha crouched, staring frantically.

"Dodge!"

He leaped out of the way of a launched attack that…hit his tail.

The yell he let out tore, but I had to keep strong for both of us. "Don't give up, Kyerrsha! Use Thunder Punch!"

He swung, but Zak just kept dodging! It made me almost frustrated that dodging was allowed.

"Thunder!"

That one hit, but a Swift edged Kyerrsha on his side, and he stumbled badly.

_This isn't good. At this rate, I'm going to lose this. Time to think desperately. _I growled to myself and screamed, "VOLT TACKLE!!!"

Electricity charged around Kyerrsha's body, and he ran top-speed at Zak and…actually hit!

All I could do was stare. _He knows Volt Tackle? I was guessing!_

Clearly, Kyerrsha didn't know he knew that one, either; he stood there so stiff-backed that I figured I knew what his face looked like.

Of course, in our moment of distraction, Zak used a high-power Confusion, and poor Kyerrsha collapsed.

"Kyerrsha is unable to battle. Round Five goes to Zykhon!"

The crowds all…wailed, is probably the right word. I could just picture it: "_Oh, no! The Chosen One's gone down! What will we do?_"

_All right, you know what? That's enough._ I set my hand against Morgana's shoulder and stared at Aximilo.

"Round Six will be between Zykhon and Morgana."

I stopped her before she actually went out. "You _are_ going to actually listen to me this time, right?"

"Of course. We have no choice here." And she leaped out onto the battlefield.

"_**Begin!**_"


	23. The Epic Battle, Part 4

The Epic Battle, part 4

* * *

_**JOMEI**_

"This is terrible!" the Lucario next to me moaned, clutching his head. "With the Chosen One fallen, nothing can stop Zykhon from destroying us all!"

I rolled my eyes. "The battle's not over until the last one's fallen, I know that much from watching Akiko in other battles."

"But this isn't one of your 'other battles,'" he retorted, "This one has the fate of Hyrikan staked on it!"

I sighed. There wasn't really anything for me to say in order to convince him.

An explosion turned my attention back to the field. Apparently, they'd cleared Kyerrsha off the field already, and now Morgana was dodging Swift attacks. _Figures he's using Swift: Psychic-type attacks won't affect her._

Suddenly, I remembered something Akiko had told me: "There's only so many times a Pokemon can use any one special attack; sooner or later, they can't use that particular attack anymore." That was right before she made me memorize how many times different attacks could be used, so that if I was ever stuck dodging attacks, I could know how many times I'd have to dodge it.

_Let's see…Swift can be used about twenty times…he'd used Swift about once in the first round, four times after that, then twice, four, and twice against Kyerrsha…that makes one, five, seven, eleven…thirteen. He should be running out about…now._

Suddenly, Zykhon called Swift, pointed his hand, and nothing happened! It was kind of funny, the look that was on his face. It was like "What? I ran out of bullets? I'm in trouble!"

"Use Bite!" Akiko yelled.

Amazingly, Morgana managed to get him! Then she didn't exactly follow any instructions, she just laid into him with Scratch, Slash, and more of Bite. Then again, Akiko wasn't telling her to do anything from there.

Then everything just…stopped down there, and Morgana snarled, one claw upraised, "Do you yield?"

His answer was too quiet, and then Akiko ran onto the field. What was going on down there?

* * *

_**AKIKO**_

"Do you yield?" Morgana snarled, her claw over his neck.

"No. Strike."

_And I thought_ Jomei _was stubborn!_ I bounded out onto the field and stopped, carefully what I hoped was out of range. "Wait a second, Morgana. Zak. I know your name's really Zak. I knew your brother. You don't want to die, really. You don't even want to destroy this world. You just want to go home. If you yield, I'll see to it that you get amnesty, and go on the next flight out with Jomei, back to your brother Stan. Do you trust me?"

Zak looked up at me past Morgana's claw. His eyes were full of suspicion and…hope? I felt his mind within my head, searching. I almost threw up shields, but then realized he wanted confirmation. So I started thinking about as much as I could: about Earth, about my journey as a trainer, about my family, about Stan and his team, about my first meeting with Kyerrsha, how he saved my life, about how Sensei came to get him and how Jomei and I chose to come along, Evon's home and family, the hospital, the surgery, poor Skitty's injury, my choice to merge with her, my first view of myself as a hybrid, my first leap from Evon's front porch…

Everything, including how I felt about Kyerrsha and something I'd nearly forgotten about: Stan had a picture of him and Zak as kids. It was his only soft moment, back when we first met and he'd told me how he used to have a brother.

Zak withdrew from my mind gently, looking like he was going to cry. He whispered something quietly.

My ears automatically flared into Skitty-ears. "What did you say?"

He carefully pushed Morgana back so that he could sit up, looked up and around at the crowds, and yelled, "I surrender. May you grant me whatever punishment you will."

Aximilo called, "**_Zykhon has surrendered; victory goes to Akiko and Morgana!_**"

Stunned silence filled the auditorium for a few seconds. Then cheers broke out everywhere. I was sure my ears would be ringing by the end.

Morgana let Zak up, and he stood up and extended a hand to me, actually giving me a nice smile. "Good match."

I grinned at him and met his hand with my own, shifting to hybrid in the middle. "Good match."

"When do I get to go home?"

"_**Your punishment,**_" I heard from Sensei, and by Zak's twitch, he heard it too, "_**will be exile. We shall prepare a ship for you, and you will leave here and never come back.**_"

He glanced around and grinned. "_**That will be no hardship; I rather missed being around straight humans and Pokemon.**_"

I figured his shuttle would leave before the Festival. They wouldn't want him around for any longer than they could get away with. Now I needed to rest my Pokemon, and Kyerrsha, and get ready for the Festival itself, along with catching Jomei before he went with Zak.


	24. The FestivalAnd Last

The Festival/And Last…

* * *

**_KYERRSHA_**

I slowly opened my eyes. My memory came back very slowly, or at least it seemed like that. _Earth…Akiko and Jomei came with me…the battle…against Zykhon…I used Volt Tackle…then was knocked out!_

I sat bolt upright. "Did we get him?"

I heard a crash and looked around. I was in a hospital bed, and Jomei was on the floor next to an overturned chair, staring at me with enormous eyes. Then he started giggling like a maniac.

"Yes, we got him. Are you okay?"

"I'm more than okay. I…" I stared at my hands. "I used Volt Tackle!"

Jomei stood up and set the chair upright again. "Yeah, so what? Can't lots of Pokemon learn that attack?"

I shook my head and stood up. "No, Jo. That's a Pikachu-exclusive move, but one has to be born with it. It's hard to explain when describing it the Pokemon way, but with the hybrids, it's perfectly simple: either you're born with the Gift of Volt Tackle, or you're not."

"Oh." He cocked his head like he was thinking about that. Then he grinned. "Akiko's been going nuts waiting for you to wake up. She doesn't want you to miss the festival."

I smirked. "Well then, let's save her from her madness."

We walked out, and I asked, "So how is…your team?"

"You almost said 'Akiko's team,' didn't you? They're fine. Swellow's flying around the trees, while Lapras is back in its ball." He waved it at me as if in proof. "Everyone else is just wandering around, not really doing anything. Morgana got released, by the way."

"Figures. No hybrid should be a captive."

We walked past a waving Blissey and out into sunlight, colors and noise. Everywhere we looked, it seemed, sports and games were going full-blast, and contests were being held alongside battles. I smirked to myself, just as I did every year. _No wonder the Festival's such a hit every year._

"I've been getting pretty good with the ring-toss game," Jomei commented, pointing at a Rhydon who was patiently standing and letting kids throw rings onto his horn, "though I don't get how that guy can just stand there and take that."

"Looks like the same guy who was doing that post last year. Trust me, he's used to it, since he only has to put up with it for one day out of the year."

"Oh." Then his head snapped up. "Whoa!"

I followed his gaze. A very familiar Lucario was throwing aura rings around an equally familiar Skitty, who was looking nervous and excited at the same time.

"That guy had been acting so pessimistic after you went down; I'm amazed he's participating. At least, I think that's the same guy. He's good, isn't he? Not many people can make Akiko nervous and excited at the same time." Jomei can't tell hybrids apart. At least he recognized his sister.

"Pessimistic? Then this is probably the same guy. I know him; he tended to make wisecracks at Sensei about me failing before I even reached Zykhon. Don't puzzle over his participation too much: get him off the subject of Hyrikan going down in hellfire, and he's a decent guy."

His performance ended with a series of sparks, and he bowed to the crowds. Then he spotted me. "Kyerrsha!" One bound took him off the stage and right in front of me. I didn't move, being used to that sort of thing, but Jomei jumped backward. "You're recovered?"

"Enough to take you on anytime you feel like it, Rylan."

"You know this guy?" Jomei sounded shaken; an aftereffect of the bound, perhaps?

"Sure. Jomei, this is Rylan; Rylan, Jomei."

He smirked at Jo. "We've met."

"Uh…yeah…we have." Jomei was recovering pretty well.

Right about there, Akiko walked over. "So, what are you going to do with the prize, Ry?"

"Ry?" Jomei repeated, looking…resigned. I was amused, myself. I used that nickname every now and again, but only Akiko would just belt it out when she wasn't even sure we knew him.

"Akiko, your faith in my ability to win is astounding."

She ignored that. "I think that if you don't want it, you should let me have it, since I was your assistant. Hey, Kyerrsha, Jomei. Finally decided to join the party?"

My ears quirked. There was something in her tone that she wasn't saying. Something along the lines of…

I interrupted her. "Jomei, Rylan? Could you leave us for a second? There's something we need to talk about."

Rylan caught on to something, that's for sure. Maybe he heard it, too. "Uh…sure. Come on, Jomei, let's see if anyone's gotten the bag of candied fruit off the greased pole yet."

I glanced at Akiko, who was looking around at the crowds nervously. "If you want to avoid the crowds to say whatever it is, I know a place. Nobody should be around there right now."

"Okay."

I led her straight to the most beautiful tree there was on this side, because it never really stopped blooming. There was a special place that was inside the very heart of it, but I rarely went in, mostly because usually someone else had beaten me there.

We both slipped in the crevice and sat down inside. "Okay, talk. Nobody can overhear us in here."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Okay." She took a deep breath and started. "Back when…when you first met me, I wasn't really that impressed with…males. They were either too old for me, too young, or just…boys. Jerks. You follow me?"

I nodded. I actually knew what she meant, for I had the same basic problem at first: females were too young, too old, or just too…pushy.

"But…after I saw you…the way you are," she waved her hands hopelessly at me in my true form, "I…I don't know…"

Suddenly, I figured I knew what she was trying to say. I'd said it myself on the battlefield. Had she forgotten she'd already told me this? "Akiko?"

She stopped. "Kyerrsha?"

Then it hit me! "Akiko…are you _shy?_"

A smirk played onto her face, her eyes widened, and she retorted, "Who, me?"

Then I grabbed her shoulders and kissed her, easily ending the conversation.


End file.
